Lake Co. schools still have time to back tax vote
Officials who want to raise Lake County's sales tax to help pay construction-related costs at all schools have a few more weeks to garner support for the measure.
Under a new state law, school boards representing at least 51 percent of the student population in a county are allowed to adopt resolutions to place the sales tax proposition on the ballot. The law requires county boards to OK the measure for the ballot at the request of schools.
If it lands on the Nov. 4 ballot, a referendum question would seek a 1 percentage point increase in Lake County's sales tax. The extra money could be used by all county schools for renovations, architects, land acquisition, new buildings and other similar expenses.
To get on the November ballot, there must be enough school districts in favor of placing the idea before voters by the Lake County board's Aug. 12 meeting. State law cuts off submission of a referendum question to a county clerk's office at 65 days before an election.
Bruce Bohren, board president at Gurnee-based Woodland Elementary District 50, has penned a letter to other Lake County school boards to support getting the issue on the ballot. He said real-estate tax increases right now are the only way to generate additional funding.
"Our school (district) and others in Lake County are in need of funds for school facility improvements and basic maintenance projects that are postponed due to a lack of funds," Bohren wrote.
Proponents need support from Lake County districts representing 71,773 of 140,732 students to reach the Nov. 4 ballot. Support this month from Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake and Deerfield Elementary District 109 bumped the latest tally from 41,388 to 44,876.
Woodland, Millburn Elementary District 24 and Waukegan Unit District 60 were among the first this year to support letting voters decide the issue. Eleven Lake County school districts now back the idea.
Deanna Sullivan, director of governmental relations for the Illinois Association of School Boards, said Champaign and Rock Island counties are expected to have the sales tax question on the November ballot. Voters in Williamson County in southern Illinois were the first to approve the tax in February.
Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik has been among the public critics of the schools sales tax idea. She contends Gurnee, which receives much of its income from retail spending, would lose business to nearby Wisconsin if Lake County's sales tax were to increase.
Sullivan countered there would be benefits to sales-tax-rich communities.
"You're … spreading the tax burden through a much broader population," she said.
All Lake County schools are projected to receive $550 per student annually if the sales tax rises by 1 percentage point.
Woodland Associate Superintendent Robert Leonard said the sales tax money could be used to pay off what school districts will owe to Special Education District of Lake County for a $26.5 million building project.
Apparel, hardware and furniture would be subjected to the tax increase for schools. It wouldn't hit medicine, food, vehicles or medical supplies.