Hinsdale officials have rejected an unprecedented proposal by School District 181 to tax residents who engage in a common practice in the village: adding bedrooms to their homes.
To help offset the cost of rising enrollment, the school board earlier this year sent the village a letter proposing that Hinsdale residents who remodel or tear down their homes and add bedrooms be assessed an impact fee.
The theory is that the additional bedrooms are likely to be occupied by children, who will add to the enrollment crunch in the schools.
“Impact fees are something we’ve been discussing for about a year, and we just wanted them to review our proposal,” said Tom Ryan, District 181 business manager.
School and village officials say they believe the plan to target extra bedrooms is unprecedented, because impact fees generally are assessed based on new development rather than existing homes.
While most of Hinsdale is already developed, the controversial practice of teardowns continues in which small, older homes are demolished and replaced with larger, more expensive ones. Last year, 62 homes were torn down and larger homes built in their place.
At a recent Village Board meeting, Hinsdale trustees said they’re not sure that more bedrooms equal higher enrollment. They rejected the school district proposal, questioning its timing, necessity and legal soundness.
“In view of the upcoming (District 181) referendum (proposal) that could mean more taxes, and the fact that the state is looking at the school funding issue, this is just a bad time for a new tax,” said Village President William Whitney.
One legal concern was the proposed use of the funds. Impact fees often are used to purchase land, but District 181 proposed using the money to help pay for mobile classrooms and new construction in the district that serves parts of Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, Clarendon Hills, Oak Brook and Willowbrook. There are now 18 mobile classrooms in use in the district.
A working formula submitted in the district’s proposal for Hinsdale showed the proposal would have generated $282,000 a year.
