Dist. 158 will use grant to ease burden on taxpayers

Huntley Unit District 158 has received a $39.4 million grant to help pay off some of the district’s existing debts and offset portions of future construction costs.

The grant from the Illinois Capital Development Board will primarily repay bonds for construction projects completed in 2005, said Mark Altmayer, the district’s chief financial officer. The cost of the construction was more than $80 million.

Those projects included the buildings on the Square Barn Road Campus, which houses two elementary schools and one middle school, as well as Marlowe Middle School in Lake in the Hills.

The school board will begin discussions on the fund allocations at its March Committee of the Whole meeting.

Restrictions on the debt repayment structure means the district cannot use all of the funds to repay debt at one time, Superintendent John Burkey said.

Instead, he said, the proceeds will enable the district to defray costs of the district’s increasing debt repayments.

“It is really going to help our taxpayers because we are going to be able to help pay down part of the debt and use part of it for future building needs, like at the high school,” Burkey said.

Although housing construction has slowed in the district, Burkey said enrollment at Huntley High School continues to grow and is expected to reach 3,000 students within the next five years.

Without the grant funds, expansion costs would have fallen to taxpayers, Burkey said.

“We have a responsibility to both our taxpayers and students and we will spend the money with them very much in mind,” Burkey said.