Dist. 200 lays out Hubble costs for homeowner
For the price of 30 seconds with pop star Michael Jackson, or one day of parking in a Metra parking lot, Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 residents can have a new middle school.
School board members learned the detailed impact of the most favored plan to pay for a new $58 million Hubble Middle School Wednesday night.
Bond council again recommended a borrowing plan to pay back the debt over 14 years. The plan would keep the tax rate for debt payment stable for 12 of the 14 years.
Tax bills would still increase because the borrowing plan prevents the tax rate from falling as it normally would over that time.
The result for the owner of a $350,000 home is paying about $3,400 more in taxes, total, during that 14 years. That's roughly the same amount Japanese fans of Michael Jackson recently shelled out to have a buffet dinner with him and 30 seconds of face time.
The biggest tax increase in the Hubble payment plan would come in the year 2021. That year, tax bills for the owner of a $350,000 home would inflate by $455. That breaks down to about $1.25 a day, which is the same amount it costs to park in most Metra parking lots for the day.
The calculations assume the $350,000 home increases in value by 4 percent each year for the life of the debt repayment. It factors in the $5,000 general homestead residential tax exemption. It does not include senior citizens homestead and assessment freeze tax exemptions.
Another huge factor not included is any money the district may receive if it decides to sell the current Hubble property in Wheaton. That money would help retire debt and lessen the local tax burden of building the new school.
That fact won't be reflected in any referendum question the school board puts on Feb. 5 ballots. Bond council has advised the district that it can't say in the actual referendum question that money from the sale of the current Hubble will go directly to pay off some of the bonds.
The school board has also not yet committed to selling the current Hubble property if the referendum passes.
Superintendent Richard Drury did recommend selling the property Wednesday night.
His recommendation duplicates former Superintendent Gary Catalani's recommendation last May to sell the land.