There were only so many ways Supt. George Steffen could tell voters that the lone school in his Prairie Grove Elementary School District 46 was overcrowded.
But all the campaign speeches and the promise that the issue wouldn’t raise taxes weren’t what convinced voters on Tuesday to pass a referendum proposal to build a junior high school, Steffen said.
Seeing is believing.
“I think that the referendum really was an acknowledgment of things people were seeing with their own eyes: Mobile classrooms, closets as offices, the stage as an art room, the audio-visual storage as a social workers’ room,” he said.
Throughout McHenry County on Tuesday, voters acknowledged that the explosive growth in this rural county has weighed heavily on their communities and schools.
In addition to Prairie Grove voters giving their schools a thumbs-up vote, those in Barrington Unit School District 220 passed a proposal to build new elementary schools and an addition at the middle school.
Also, the Huntley Library District won approval from voters to build a new spacious library due to cramped conditions at the current facility.
The one growth-related proposal that didn’t pass was the Marengo Union Elementary District 165’s request to reopen Evergreen Park School in Union. That plan was opposed by a group of parents who were concerned about possible health hazards in the school building.
District 165 Supt. Ron Rood said it is not unusual for a referendum to fail its first time before voters. The proposal, which would have resulted in a 66-cent increase in the tax rate over three years beginning in 1998, failed by a vote of 833-659.
“We didn’t see this as a campaign,” said Rood. “We saw it as a process of educating the public and that takes time sometimes.”
Rood said the school board was not ready to announce its next step, but will rethink the issue.
Dan Johnson, a parent of five schoolchildren, led the campaign against the proposal and said he wasn’t opposed to new taxes.
He and other opponents complained of asbestos and electrical problems in the building and said they were concerned about its proximity to the Techalloy Illinois Inc. plant.
“I’m not taking all the credit (for the proposal’s defeat),” Johnson said. “There are families who say they won’t pay more taxes.”
In many elections, tax increases play a big part in helping voters make up their minds. One way a few school districts overcame that was to promise not raise taxes.
Some used a method of tying old retiring bond issues into their new proposed bond issues and restructuring payments. As a result, tax bills did not increase. But in some cases, tax bills would likely have decreased if new proposals weren’t passed.
For example, Cary School District 26 passed a $6 million bond issue in the February primary to build an elementary school. District officials said the proposal would not raise taxes because of how the repayment was structured. If the proposal had not been approved, however, taxes could have decreased.
Similarly, in Prairie Grove, the $5.6 million bond issue to build a junior high school will not increase homeowner’s tax bills. It passed by a vote of 533-289.
The district will also restructure $2 million in outstanding bonds, then sell $5.6 million in new bonds. For homeowners, the tax bill will remain the same 23 cents for every $100 of assessed valuation for the bond rate.
“We have so many subdivisions presently being built,” Steffen said after ticking off a list of housing developments under construction in Prairie Grove. “People see these houses going up, and many of them will bring children to the school district.”
In Huntley, library officials plan to break ground for their new 12,000-square-foot facility this fall.
“We were saying that a referendum won’t pass in Huntley but we didn’t know for sure,” said Jane Thompson, head librarian. “We proved our worth to the community. And the people moving out here from Schaumburg, Mt. Prospect and Arlington Heights were used to sophisticated library services.”
The proposal will increase the library district’s tax rate from 24 to 26 cents per $100 assessed valuation, which means the owner of a $150,000 home will pay an extra $18.60 a year, Thompson said. The one-story library will be built on Ruth Road and Main Street.
