Faced with surging school enrollments, voters across Cook County on Tuesday agreed to fork over money for expansions and improvements.
Based on unofficial returns, voters from Winnetka to Hazel Crest approved at least 13 of 17 revenue-generating measures aimed at renovating and expanding schools.
Despite skepticism by Niles/Skokie school officials about the prospects of one of the county’s heftiest bond requests, voters there approved a $65 million borrowing plan for High School District 219 by a ratio of 3 to 2.
Homeowners there will see an average 1 to 1.5 percent increase in their property taxes–or about $40 more a year on a home with a market value of $200,000.
“This was a very hard sell,” Powell said. “The average person does not know how schools have changed over the last 30 years.”
With enrollment expected to jump from 4,424 to 5,000 over the next five years, the bonds would go to expand and renovate Niles West and Niles North High Schools, adding labs, classrooms, locker rooms and administrative offices.
Likewise, south suburban voters who live in Prairie Hills Elementary District 144, one of the neediest in the state, supported one referendum proposal to build a new school to handle increases in the Hazel Crest and Markham district. And while a state grant will fund 75 percent of the new school’s cost, district residents will fund the rest, paying about $270 more each year on homes whose average market value is $90,000.
However, voters there failed to pass two other ballot items that would have increased the district’s operations and maintenance budget and the education fund.
“We’re thrilled about the new school construction,” said Assistant Supt. Steven C. Kozlowski. “We still need to get the education fund and the building funds, so we will be spending the next year talking about those.”
On other measures, Hillside voters supported by a ratio of 3 to 1 a tax increase to hire nine additional paramedics, while Midlothian voters narrowly defeated a fourth attempt since 1996 by the Park District there to beef up its budget. That measure failed by a ratio of 12 to 11.
In Winnetka, voters’ generosity extended to two referendum proposals to raise money for School District 36, but stopped there. A Park District proposal to build a $7.8 million recreation center appeared headed to defeat with almost all ballots in.
With a 50 percent increase in student enrollment over the last decade, district officials sought to raise $2.9 million to renovate aging schools and to restore cuts in music, art and physical education classes.
Meanwhile, the Park District, which had been housed in District 36 schools, got nudged out as the schools needed the space.
That unofficial approval will add about $585 a year to the bill of a homeowner who now pays $10,000 in property taxes.
In Glencoe, returned ballots were showing an opposite trend: School District 35’s two referendum proposals aimed at renovating its three elementary schools failed, while a Glencoe Park District measure to rehab two outdoor ice rinks passed.
In another hotly debated referendum that underscored long-standing tension between Northwestern University and its host city, Evanston voters were approving an advisory question asking whether the university should contribute more to city coffers.
While wording of the advisory question merely suggests that tax-exempt Northwestern should meet with city officials to discuss what its “fair share” should be, it signifies frustration among residents about their tax burden.
Also in Evanston, early unofficial returns indicated that voters were backing, 3 to 1, Elementary District 65’s request to raise $27.5 million for construction of an early childhood education center and new administration offices.
And with almost all unofficial returns in, Oak Park residents approved an advisory question about a new $30 million library by a roughly 4 to 3 ratio.
Library officials in the Village of Worth received a similar go-ahead from voters on a 10-cent rate hike that will allow them to replace an aging paper card catalog with a computerized one, among other improvements.
