District 41 referendum may be decided by 13 ballots

The fate of Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41's plan to borrow $24.2 million for construction projects could come down to vote-by-mail ballots that election officials must receive by Tuesday.

District voters appear to support the measure by a razor-thin margin, according to the latest tallies. Unofficial results posted April 7 show 2,665 votes in favor of the plan and 2,656 against it.

But 13 mail-in ballots in the district have not yet been returned to the DuPage County Election Commission, said Joseph Sobecki, interim executive director.

Under state law, the commission has two weeks after the April 4 election - or by Tuesday - to count the last of the mail-in ballots.

Should the outstanding ballots arrive by mail and all but one say "no," the measure would fail by a vote of 2,668 to 2,666.

The tallies aren't official until the election commission certifies the results April 24.

If voters turned down the funding request, officials could request a so-called discovery recount of ballots in up to 25 percent of the district's 37 precincts.

Through a spokeswoman Thursday, Superintendent Paul Gordon said he would wait to make any decision or recommendation on such a partial recount once the commission has certified the results.

If the measure is rejected, the district's share of the property tax bill for the owner of a $373,200 home - the average in Glen Ellyn - would decrease by $248 because of the retirement of existing debt.

The tax bill for that homeowner would only drop by about $106 with voter approval of the plan.

Principal and interest payments on the loan would cost the district a total of $40.87 million over 20 years. The district plans to pay off the debt in tax year 2036.

The district would earmark about $9.2 million of the funding for a two-story, 10-classroom addition at Hadley Junior High to replace the school's portable units.

The new loan also would pay for the costs of shifting a bus lane off Glencoe Street and onto Hadley's property to help alleviate traffic around the neighborhood school.

At all of its five schools, the district would make infrastructure repairs and renovate bathrooms to improve accessibility for students with disabilities. The district also would reconfigure the Churchill Elementary front entrance to send visitors directly to the main office.