Lisle 202 voters could vote on tax cut question in April

A group of Lisle Unit District 202 residents has scored a victory in its attempt to place a tax-cut measure on the April ballot.

The DuPage County Electoral Board this week refused to dismiss a petition for a ballot question that would ask voters if District 202's levy - the portion of its budget paid for with property taxes - should be reduced by roughly $1.9 million.

Organizers of a group called Go Refund Me collected more than 1,400 signatures - nearly 400 more than they needed - to put the binding question on the April 2 ballot.

Lisle resident Joshua Martin filed an objection, arguing that the wording of the petition failed to meet the requirements outlined in state law. But the electoral board disagreed and concluded that the question should appear on the ballot.

Martin has until Monday to appeal the electoral board's decision by filing a complaint for administrative review in DuPage. On Thursday, he hadn't decided whether he will appeal.

If the electoral board's decision stands and the question appears on the ballot, supporters say it would be great for District 202 taxpayers.

"We're giving people a chance to finally have a say on the level of taxation," said Susan Cassa, one of the roughly two dozen members of the Go Refund Me group.

The referendum is possible because of a state law approved last year.

As part of the law, school districts that have an "adequacy level" for education funding that's 110 percent or more are eligible for referendums that seek tax cuts. The adequacy level reflects how much the state believes a school district should be spending to educate students in comparison to what the district actually spends.

District 202 is among the DuPage school districts with an adequacy rate that exceeds 110 percent.

Go Refund Me organizers have been critical of District 202 for using tax revenue to build up reserves, allowing the school board to build a new school without seeking voter approval.

Mark Stern, the attorney representing Cassa, said a successful request would reduce the district's levy by 10 percent or the amount that would bring it down to a 110 percent adequacy rate, whichever is less.

"It's basically saying you have to reset your tax levy to a lower trajectory so you're not continuing to collect so much money when you already have a lot on hand," Stern said.

If District 202 voters approve the ballot question, the levy for the district's education fund would be reduced to $17.15 million from $19.06 million.

On Thursday, District 202 Superintendent Keith Filipiak said in an email the district just learned of the electoral board's decision "and will be evaluating the consequences in the coming weeks."

"It is still unclear if the referendum questions will be applied to the 2018 or 2019 tax year and if the reduction is permanent or applicable to a single tax year," Filipiak wrote. "The district anticipates getting clarification from the DuPage County clerk in the near future."

Ray Sojka, one of the Go Refund Me members, said the group is confident that a levy reduction wouldn't affect students, teachers, programs or the construction of the new school.

"If we thought there was any negative impact on students or teachers, we would never have done this process," he said. "We would have never gone out and collected signatures."

He said District 202 still would have healthy reserves.

Meanwhile, the property taxes homeowners pay to the district would decrease about $100 per $100,000 of a home's value if the ballot question is approved.

"That's real money for most people," Cassa said.