Every year since 1972, Warren Township High School District 121 voters have seen the same $1.07 education tax rate on their annual bills.
But that may soon change if voters approve a 12-cent increase in a November referendum.
The increase is needed to sustain the fast-growing district’s curriculum and salaries, District 121 Supt. Robert A. McKanna said.
“We’re just trying to maintain what we have. We’re not creating any new programs,” he said.
If the increase is approved, a resident owning a home with a market value of $200,000 would pay an extra $80 a year.
If it is rejected, programs would have to be cut.
“If we don’t get the additional money, we won’t be able to operate the way we are,” McKanna said.
Enrollment in the district, which has students from Gurnee and areas of Wadsworth, Park City, Gages Lake, Grayslake and Milburn, is expected to rise from 3,200 to 4,000 in four years, McKanna said.
District officials estimate enrollment will reach 5,000 in 8 to 15 years.
McKanna said that although the equalized assessed value of property is increasing by 9 percent per year, the district has been limited by a property tax cap since 1991.
The high school, one of only four in Illinois to receive the Blue Ribbon of Excellence Award from President Clinton last week, must act before the situation becomes critical, said Kristina Kovarik, chairman of Warren Counts, a parents group pushing for the referendum.
“There’s a lot at stake here,” said Kovarik, mother of a sophomore. “You only get one chance at a real good high school education.”
Voters also will be asked to approve a $48 million bond issue for Woodland School District 50 for a new intermediate school, an addition to the middle school and district reconfiguration.
The Gages Lake-based District 50, the largest feeder district for Warren, also will receive $15.4 million from the state, spokeswoman Tami Stough said. With 6,600 students, it is one of the largest elementary districts in the state.
