Most Dist. 57 candidates say referendum not prudent now
All four candidates running for the Mount Prospect Elementary District 57 school board agree tough decisions lie ahead when it comes to the district’s finances.
But they don’t all agree that an immediate tax rate increase is part of the answer.
Four candidates are running for three spots on the board and only Joseph Leane, currently the board’s president, is an incumbent.
The other candidates are Joe Sonnefeldt, a self-employed musician and music teacher; attorney Denny Composto and Nick Papanicholas Jr., general contractor and construction manager of Nicholas and Associates in Mount Prospect.
Despite facing a $1.5 million deficit, both Sonnefeldt and Leane said they wouldn’t support putting a referendum on the ballot in the next couple years.
“If we would try we would lose,” said Sonnefeldt, who worked in 2003 to pass a tax increase for District 57, which failed by 42 votes. “I don’t think there is the support for it given the economic conditions. We need to figure out a long-term sustainable path assuming there is no tax increase.”
Leane, a professional engineer who has been on the District 57 school board for eight years, agrees with Sonnefeldt. He said the school board has already gone through three phases of cutting, and more lies ahead.
“I don’t see a referendum passing in the near future,” Leane said, who said he prefers the board see what economies can be achieved though restructuring programs.
Composto said he would back a tax increase only after the school board first balances its budget through cuts and restructuring. If a tax increase is approved at that point, he said, the money would best be used building the district’s reserves back up and for capital improvements.
Papanicholas was more hopeful about the potential success of a tax increase in the near future. He said District 57’s salaries and expenses are lower than many surrounding school districts and said he believed many people in the community would agree if approached with information.
“I grew up here and I’ve been here for 32 years,” he said. “Personally, I would support one. I think it’s a small price for what we get.”
Still, he said, he wants to see what the community survey says before advocating the district try for a tax increase now.
Last month, District 57 mailed out 9,000 surveys asking people to weigh in on several financial issues. The survey asked for reaction to a 32-cent tax rate hike which would have the owner of a $300,000 home paying an additional $305 per year in school taxes.
The survey also asked if class sizes larger than 21 to 25 students were acceptable and if the district should eliminate programs like art and music and if fees for textbooks, sports and extracurricular activities should be raised.
Leane said the board will also have to discuss layoffs since pay and benefits for teachers and administrators are about 80 percent of the district’s budget.
The board will discuss the survey results on the March 3.