No St. Charles middle school referendum this November

Haines and Thompson will not compete for ballot attention with Clinton and Trump on November election ballots in St. Charles. A recent community survey dashed any notion of a local middle school referendum this fall.

A $12,000 survey of 400 St. Charles residents showed less than 40 percent of taxpayers would support either a $50 million plan to build a new Thompson Middle School or a $35 million plan to renovate Thompson.

When informed about how the district's tax rate will drop in either scenario, thanks to the retirement of old bond debt, support topped out at about 60 percent. That would be more than enough support to move forward. But that assumes success in educating the larger voting public on why their property taxes paid to the school district will drop even if they vote in favor of the middle school changes. The less than 40 percent support shown in the initial survey questions show months of public forums and discussion about the district's looming tax drop indicate poor awareness on the upcoming tax bill savings.

“The hill to climb for a successful referendum in November is pretty steep,” said survey author Rod Wright.

There is also a stronger than expected anti-tax sentiment in St. Charles revealed by the survey. About 65 percent of people in the survey said they just can't afford to pay higher taxes. And nearly 40 percent said the district's middle schools are fine the way they are.

District officials want to close Haines and beef up Thompson and Wredling middle schools to save money while addressing declining enrollment. Closing Haines would save about $2.4 million a year.

School board members agreed to take a November referendum off the table after seeing the survey results. They also agreed the survey showed taxpayers would sooner pay for Thompson renovations than a new middle school. That takes the $50 million plan off the table.

The question going forward is when to ask for the $35 million of renovation money. School board members had resisted asking voters for the cash next April. Local elections, including for school board, will be on that April ballot.

There's also the question what state the district's overall finances will be come that time. The district could lose between $8 million and $14 million depending on how long the state goes without an education budget.

If the loss is closer to $14 million, it will be difficult to convince voters to spend money on school renovations when just keeping the doors open is a major concern.

School board members won't make a decision on an April referendum until school is back in session this fall. By then they will have more enrollment numbers and, possibly, a better feel for where state education funding is headed. District officials will begin preparing community education materials about the district's middle schools and retiring debt in anticipation of an April ballot question.