Hinsdale District 86 voters favor tax hike

Hinsdale Dist. 86 voters leaning toward tax hike #dhelections

Faced with a promise that football, swimming and other school activities would be eliminated without more funding, voters in Hinsdale Township High School District 86 approved a plan to borrow $139.8 million to repair and renovate Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South high schools.

With 100% of the precincts reporting, unofficial results showed 13,927 votes (60%) in favor of the referendum with 9,468 votes (40%) opposing the bond issue.

After a similar referendum for $166.4 million was rejected by voters in November of 2018, the school board scaled back the amount, and promised to eliminate football, swimming and other sports and activities if voters did not approve the $139,815,983 referendum in Tuesday's election. The board is scheduled to meet today to discuss if any of those cuts will still be needed, or if those sports and activities now will continue.

The money will be used to repair, equip and replace portions of the Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central campuses, make them accessible to people with disabilities, High School Campus, improve electrical capacity and lighting, and installing school safety and emergency response systems and equipment.

With the passage of the referendum, the owner of a $500,000 house would pay an estimated $282 more a year in property taxes to the school district. The median home value in the district is $461,200.