Administrative costs out of whack in D304

In my many years as a resident of Geneva, I have witnessed a constantly increasing property tax, especially in the past 10 years, wherein our taxes on our home have more than doubled.

Nearly 70 percent of our property tax bill is for School District 304. I began attending some of the school board’s meetings in hopes of finding what is causing all these increases.

The list of my many issues in this regard is too lengthy to cover in one letter, but for one large example, I feel strongly that our district’s administrative staffing, which I define as all nonteaching jobs, as well as their related salaries and benefits, have grown far out of proportion to the size of the student body, which radically increases the costs taxpayers have to bear.

We cannot afford to be out of step in future spending with what we can justify asking our citizens to fund, with ever growing tax increases from this school district.

I fully support a great education for our children and grandchildren, and feel our teachers are doing a wonderful job, but unnecessary spending does not increase educational levels. Fiscal responsibility and good education are not mutually exclusive. Common sense has been missing in some areas. We have an opportunity on April 5 to elect board candidates who will support strong education at sensible costs, and question current cost structures.

Study each candidate’s backgrounds and commitments to financial responsibility and make your choices felt in the ballot box.

Fred Cregier

Geneva