Show some restraint, school board members

To Huntley School Board Members, District 158: My age is 79, have lived in Sun City, Huntley since 2000, and have been retired since 1996. My taxes last year increased to $6,388, up $500. District 158 represented over 63 percent of that total bill and most of that increase.

As you know, we have 5,500 homes in Sun City, send no children to the District, and contribute an estimated $16.5 million to District 158 each year. Attempts by me to persuade our legislators, including our governor, to champion an effort to give seniors over age 75 a break on school taxes, have been unsuccessful. If not age 75, how about age 80, 85 or 90? If not a complete exemption, how about a partial exemption? The idea is to give retired people on fixed incomes a chance to hold on to their homes, avoid moving to lower cost areas and maintain their standard of living.

The reality of the current situation is every increase in real estate taxes comes right out of our standard of living because we are on fixed incomes. Therefore, until our politicians change the rules, I implore you to use restraint when deciding on programs what increase our taxes. Clearly, you have a responsibility to provide a quality education to the children of District 158, and as far as I can tell, you are doing a good job. However, in my life, if I could not afford something, I did not buy it and just did without.

Again, I implore you to use restraint. The kids will survive and maybe I can still go to a movie once in a while.

Jack McAllister

Huntley