'Limited success' in loan repayment factors into Dist. 203 levy talks
Naperville Unit District 203 was looking to save money by paying back some bonds early, but bondholders weren't biting.
Out of $10 million in loans the district tried to pay back before their due date, officials only were able to repay $500,000. So instead of saving as much as $5 million in interest payments, the district saved $280,000, Chief Financial Officer Brad Cauffman said.
Now the school board is factoring that into discussions about how much to collect in next year's property tax levy.
The total levy is proposed at $228,731,630, which includes $3.1 million levied specifically to help pay back loans of $10 million and $33 million taken out in 2008 and 2009 to help pay for construction projects on several schools.
The $10 million loan from 2008 is the same amount the district tried this year to pay back early with what school board member Mike Jaensch called "limited success." The next opportunity to pay back the bonds will be in 2018, and the district would need roughly $9.5 million on hand to completely repay the loan at that time, Janesch said.
There was some discussion at Monday's school board meeting of returning to taxpayers the $3.1 million that could be levied next year specifically to cover debt, but school board members first asked for more information about the long-term effect of the inability to pay back most of the $10 million loan this year.
Cauffman said he will provide that information at the board's next meeting Dec. 15, when board members are expected to vote on how much they will seek from taxpayers.
If the property tax levy is approved at the proposed $228 million amount, it will be a $5.5 million increase - or roughly 2.5 percent - over the $223 million levied last year, Cauffman said.
That would mean the owner of a $375,000 house would owe an additional $102 in taxes to the district. The increase would bring the total school district portion of the property tax bill to $7,043 from $6,940.