Grant High officials to ask voters for $38.5 million

Grant High School officials will ask residents to approve a $38.5 million building referendum that, officials said, will not increase taxes.

However, officials at the Fox Lake High School said taxes would drop by about $150 annually if the referendum is not approved by voters in the 2008 primary election on Feb. 5.

Christie Sefcik, associate superintendent of Grant High School District 124 in Fox Lake, said the district is looking to make renovations to the high school, located at Route 59 and Grand Avenue.

If the plan is approved, the district would add about 21 classrooms, new science labs, art studios, and family and consumer science labs, as well as an activity center and field house.

The construction would happen in two phases over two years.

Because old building bonds will be paid off at the end of 2007, the district could take out a new loan for the expansion without taxpayers seeing any change in their bills. If residents approve the referendum, the rate would remain at $2.053 per $100 equalized assessed value of a home.

"We did this purposefully through careful planning by the district," Sefcik said. "We saw a need to expand several years ago, and restructured our debt to ensure we could expand without adding taxes to residents."

If approved, this would be the third expansion at Grant since 2000, when Grant expanded to hold 1,650 students. The district then added classrooms and a new library in 2005. The 2005 expansion was paid for through impact fees.