More school district whining

Recently the Daily Herald had two articles in regards to local school districts: "District 95 (Lake Zurich) contesting property value reductions" and "St. Charles schools (District 303) looks at how to pay for turf fields at high schools".

In the District 95 situation, the school board is complaining that they would lose about $231,000 in tax revenue if the lower property valuation of two commercial properties is upheld. Board member Scott McConnel said that the district's overall tax base could shrink, leading to reduced annual revenue.

He goes on to state, "We are also losing the compounding on that forever." Yet, according to the D95 website, this board doled out $382,936 in "retirement enhancements" to their retiring administrators in 2015. And this number does not include what they paid out in the 6 percent pension spikes to retiring teachers.

What about the revenue lost on these wasteful pension spikes? Perhaps Mr. McConnel should look at his own board's reckless spending to find ways to increase their revenue instead of always looking for ways to squeeze more money out of private sector taxpayers.

In the St. Charles D303 article, the board is looking for ways to pay for new turf at each of their two high school fields. The cost would be $2 million. They are reviewing a plan from their athletic boosters to help pay for this. Yet, according to the D303 website, this board doled out a staggering $5,253,279 in "retirement enhancements" to their retiring educators in 2015 alone - more than twice as much as the cost of the turf.

Furthermore 98 percent of their educators received 8-10 percent pension spikes in 2015. I guess they are having a mass retirement over the next few years.

Ken Hofrichter

Elk Grove Village