Elk Grove Twp. District 59 bond opponents short of signatures with deadline looming
Opponents of Elk Grove Township District 59's plan to borrow up to $20 million, which would increase property taxes slightly, are scrambling to gather enough petitions to stop the bond issue before a Friday deadline.
The district wants the bond money to help pay for a new administration building, as well as renovations at two schools. Residents against the proposal argue the district, which has enough cash in reserves to operate for an entire year, shouldn't ask taxpayers for more money. They want the bond issue put to a vote in the March 2018 election.
"Our main pitch - what actually gets people the most, rather than going through a dissertation - is we're trying to save money on your taxes," Elk Grove Village resident Michael Kaveney said. "We want the citizenry, the voters, to make the decisions for such a large issue."
With the deadline looming, however, petition organizers were about 900 signatures short Tuesday. To force a referendum, residents must collect at least 3,347 petition signatures - 10 percent of the registered voters in the district. The group had about 2,500, Kaveney said.
Bill Christian, another Elk Grove Village resident organizing the petition drive, said the group needs signatures by Wednesday to have time for binding them Thursday. State election law has strict, specific rules for submitting petitions, including binding the pages.
Borrowing money to help pay for the $17.2 million administration building and kitchen commissary wasn't publicly discussed until the school district started its budgeting process. Officials released projections showing it would deficit-spend about $100 million over the next five years, largely depleting its $110 million reserve fund.
The deficit spending is mostly attributed to adding dozens of employees the last four years as the district bolstered early education programs and added a cadre of teacher coaches tasked with improving classroom instruction. The idea is to improve programs in a district where more than half the students live in poverty and one-third do not speak English at home.
"While the board will strategically deficit-spend into the reserves this year, the issuance of the bonds will ensure financial stability, the continuation of programs to best support students, and protect against the financial uncertainty at the state and federal levels," the school district said in recently published information about the bond issue. "The bonds cannot be used for staff salaries and will not be used to increase district personnel."
Though school board members passed a resolution starting the process for borrowing up to $20 million, they reached a consensus to issue $15 million in bonds if the measure reaches a final vote in September.
Here's how different bond issue amounts would affect the average taxpayer with a $250,000 home:
• A $20 million bond issue would increase taxes about $20 annually until 2025.
• A $15 million bond issue would increase taxes about $15 annually until 2024.
• A $10 million bond issue would increase taxes about $10 annually until 2023.
Residents who want to sign petitions can call (847) 593-1055 or (630) 217-0063. The school district's information about the bond issue can be found at http://bit.ly/2vgvOYs.