DuPage voters favoring tax increase requests for schools

By Katlyn Smith

ksmith@dailyherald.com

Tax increase requests for schools were faring better than most public safety referendum campaigns in DuPage County Tuesday night.

Across the county, voters appeared reluctant to give more property tax money to fire districts, but some results remained too close to call.

Unofficial tallies do not include up to 50,504 outstanding mail ballots that could still count as long as those ballots are postmarked by Tuesday and arrive to the county clerk's office no later than Nov. 17.

Here's a look at the partial results for key ballot questions:

School districts

Taxpayers in Itasca Elementary District 10 appeared willing to support digging deeper for a variety of school construction projects.

Unofficial counts in all nine precincts showed 2,284 votes in favor and 1,757 votes against the measure to allow the district to borrow $26.98 million.

With the new debt, the owner of a $300,000 home would pay $324 in additional property taxes to the district annually.

In Winfield Elementary District 34, 1,442 votes were for and 783 were against a $4.7 million borrowing plan, with all precincts reporting unofficial results. If the measure prevails, the district would issue new bonds to replace expiring debt, clearing the way for infrastructure projects at two aging schools.

The school board has pledged to abate $940,000 in property taxes that would otherwise be collected to pay off the current bond issue. With the abatement, the school district's portion of the property tax bill for the owner of a $270,000 home would decrease by about $116.

If the measure fails, the tax bill for that homeowner would drop by roughly $540 after the retirement of the existing debt.

Fire districts

Voters in Bensenville Fire Protection District appeared to support a request for $1.15 million in additional property taxes to restore manpower levels and rebuild fiscal reserves.

With all 13 precincts reporting as of 11 p.m., the proposal received 2,564 "yes" votes to 1,923 votes against an increase that would cost the owner of a $200,000 house about $126 more a year in property taxes.

The Winfield Fire Protection District appears to have lost its bid for a tax increase to hire personnel for a shuttered station.

With all 28 precincts counted, 5,020 voters were opposed while 3,821 voters were in support of a plan to improve emergency response times in the south end of the district by staffing the station near Winfield and Roosevelt roads.

The owner of a $300,000 house, who pays $363 a year in property taxes to the district, would see that amount increase to $672 if the district's bid is successful, according to the district.

With 100% of precincts reporting in the Wood Dale Fire Protection District, 3,064 voters were opposed and 2,437 in favor of an effort to generate $1 million a year in additional revenue to maintain staffing levels, replace vehicles, make critical repairs to stations and pay rising administrative expenses.

The district sought roughly $500,000 less than the proposal voters rejected in March in the hopes of winning approval this time around.

Elsewhere

Voters in Bloomingdale Township were leaning toward abolishing the road district and transferring its duties to the township. And in Glen Ellyn, voters were closely divided on recreational marijuana sales, with 6,501 "yes" votes and 6,359 "no" votes in an advisory question.