Voters embrace Harper building plan

Worry over the economy may have actually helped taxpayers get on board with Harper College's $330 million campaign to upgrade and build new facilities on the Palatine campus.

Residents voted convincingly to contribute $153.6 million to kick off the long-range plan, which would first focus on repairs and renovations to existing buildings, many of them more than 30 years old.

With 88 percent of precincts reporting late Tuesday, unofficial returns showed 92,077 yes votes and 73,393 no votes - a 56 to 44 percent victory margin.

"We have a very astute community who knows that with a downturn in the economy comes a change in the makeup of the job market," said Harper Board President Laurie Stone. "People are going to have to prepare themselves, and there's no better place to do that than at a community college."

It was Harper's first referendum attempt since 2000, when residents approved an $88.8 million tax increase that funded building the Avante Center for Science, Health Careers and Emerging Technologies.

The college been aggressively paying off those bonds, leaving a small window of opportunity to issue new bonds without increasing its tax rate. Had the measure not passed, college officials say taxes would decline by about $25 for a home valued at $500,000.

Enrollment has grown by 33 percent over the last decade, and officials say about 41,000 students will be served this year in some capacity. They add that of all graduating high school students in the district, 1 in 3 attends Harper. The number grows to 1 in 2 within 12 months of graduation.

The vote comes on the heels of news that Harper President Robert Breuder, who didn't return calls for comment late Tuesday, is the top candidate for the presidency at College of DuPage. Breuder, through his attorney, has contacted Harper about being released early from his contract, Stone said.

He's currently set to retire June 30, 2009, but officials have said the college would save paying $144,000 to Breuder should he leave by the end of the year. COD expects to hire its new chief by Jan. 1.