Tax claim misleading

Harper College has been flooding the mail recently with flyers that state "Thus, Harper can raise an estimated $180 million without raising taxes." The Daily Herald repeated this claim. Really? Is Santa here early and does anyone really believe someone other than taxpayers are going to pay back the $180 million in bonds plus approximately another $90 million in interest (@5 percent) over 20 years? That cost (debt service) will be approximately $13.5 million a year for 20 years. Considering Harper levies about $80 million in property taxes a year, this will mean about a 16 percent increase in our Harper taxes over what it would have been without the $180 million bond issue. Now for us with a home with about a $400,000 market value, we pay $416 a year in Harper property taxes. Therefore, these bonds will cost us about $67 a year more for 20 years or a total of $1,340 over the life of the bonds.

Harper and the Daily Herald claim that paying off old bonds makes it possible for them to claim that this new bond issue will not raise our taxes. Garbage. The paying off old bonds has nothing to do with the cost of the new bonds. This is just a smoke screen invented by their financial advisers who will be paid millions if this referendum passes.

Whether the three priorities given by Harper are necessary or not is up to taxpayers to decide. I am inclined to think that Harper would continue to do an excellent job without any of the three priorities at this time. We have some of the highest real estate taxes in the country. Think about that before you vote to keep that dubious distinction.

Roland G. Ley

Arlington Heights