Guest column: Over-taxed residents should vote yes on Lisle Dist. 202 question

Illinois citizens pay the highest tax rates in the country. Residents are leaving Illinois. Higher taxes are on the horizon.

That is Illinois in 2019.

Fourteen hundred people (14 percent of registered voters) signed a petition wanting a say over their future taxation from Lisle School District 202. For years the district has overtaxed its property owners - taking more of people's hard-earned money than required to operate the district - despite a 17 percent enrollment decline over the last 15 years. Annual operating surpluses of more than $2 million have been placed in a growing reserve fund.

A sample list of the results of overtaxation:

1. Refunded $775,000, to just 5 percent of property owners, to settle overtaxation lawsuits spanning five years 2010 - 2014.

2. Approved a $39 million elementary school without any referendum because of the large reserves accumulated from overtaxing property owners. $25 million (64 percent) funded from these reserves.

3. The June 2018 reserve balance topped $51 million - enough to operate the district for 18 months.

4. At 149 percent, Lisle 202 is the second-highest funded district in DuPage County.

Referendum passage will result in a mere one-time, 2 percent tax extension reduction from that currently in place. This is the equivalent of a person having their annual base salary reduced one time from $100,000 to $98,000. For property owners, they will save about $67 per $100,000 in property market value. Trivial? Ask the average Lisle 202 voter - who is around 65 years old. Or ask a Lisle small-business owner.

The district's response to this potential one-time 2 percent tax extension reduction - threats of draconian cuts to teaching positions and student activities. Though the district's own financial data proves no cuts are necessary, some choose to use emotion to divert attention from the business reality.

1. No cuts made when the district refunded the $775,000 from the overtaxation lawsuits.

2. Duplicate administrative staff when the new elementary school opens in August.

3. A $1 million-plus acquisition of single-family homes under consideration near Wilde Field.

4. The contradiction of approving a $580,000 tax abatement in December while proposing cuts a month later.

5. Evaluating a non-education use for Schiesher school that will require significant capital expenditures

By analyzing the district's financial data and the school board's spending decisions, we conclude the threats of reductions are classic fear mongering with the sole purpose of continuing the high-taxation burden on District 202 taxpayers.

We encourage Lisle School District 202 registered voters to vote YES.

Ray Sojka, of Lisle, is a graduate of Lisle School District 202 and worked with others in the community to place the referendum question on the April ballot.