$30 million bond issue receives OK for Warren High

Warren Township High School received a thumbs-up Tuesday for its request to borrow a maximum of $30 million mostly to expand the Almond Road upperclassmen campus.

With all 49 precincts reporting, unofficial totals show 16,986 voters approved the ballot measure and 12,150 were opposed. The total does not include provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots.

Backers said a 'yes' vote would have resulted in lower property taxes within the boundaries of Gurnee-based Warren High School District 121.

Opponents countered that a reduced tax rate should not have been tied to the borrowing request winning Tuesday. They said residents would have footed the bill in the long run for a $30 million loan.

Warren plans to add 14 new classrooms, renovate offices, build more physical education space and expand the cafeteria into the Black Box Theater at the 11-year-old Almond building for juniors and seniors.

Plans also call for fire-alarm system repairs at Almond and the O'Plaine Road campus for freshmen and sophomores as well as fixing and replacing telephone and security systems at both buildings.

Officials said refinancing of construction debt four years ago will allow Warren to offer a 9-cent tax rate cut with the borrowing of the $30 million. They said an owner of a $300,000 market value home will pay about $88 less toward the bond and interest fund next year.

Growth at the Almond Road campus was cited as the primary reason for Tuesday's ballot measure.