Getting New Lenox Elementary School District 122 out of debt will cost more after a referendum defeat in November, school board finance committee members said. Committee members Jeanne Kragie, Keith Tague and Tom Greskowiak said they will recommend asking for a 45-cent increase in the educational fund tax rate when the school board meets later this month.
The board, which saw two tax increase proposals defeated in referendums last year, is expected to go to the voters again in April.
If the cash-strapped school district’s request for a 40-cent increase had passed in November, the district could have added that increase to the 2000 tax levy, with the result that it would have gotten out of debt by 2003, said Kragie, who heads the committee.
“We lose one year’s revenue because it did not pass,” she said.
Even with a 45-cent increase, the district deficit can be expected to linger until 2004, according to business manager Jim Troha’s calculations.
The 45-cent increase would add $299 to the tax bill for a $200,000 house, he said.
“At least [the 45-cent increase] gets us out of debt somewhere along the way,” Greskowiak said.
A 50-cent tax hike would wipe out the deficit faster but may be more than a tax-resistant public is willing to accept, Kragie said.
“There’s a break-even point. You’ll have people who say, `Yes, I can afford it’ and `No, I can’t,’ ” Assistant Supt. Ed Tatro said.
Some statistics are encouraging. The more than 6,000 yes votes cast in November represent a substantial increase over the yes-vote total in previous referendums, Supt. Tom Mullins said.
District 122, which has more than 4,000 pupils in kindergarten through 8th grade, has seen steady growth in enrollment but the educational fund tax rate hasn’t gone up since 1976. The school district’s growth may increase the assessed valuation, but it doesn’t generate enough revenue to pay the price of educating more pupils as they arrive, Tague said.
“We get more kids, we get more revenue, but yet we pay more,” he said.
While they hope for a brighter financial future, school board members are still preparing to cut jobs and programs to cope with the revenue lost when the November referendum proposal was defeated.
Cuts, which could include eliminating assistant principals, librarians, music teachers and reading specialists from the payroll and canceling extracurricular activities, such as sports and clubs, will be discussed at a closed work session and announced in March.
“It’s something nobody wants to do,” Tague said. If the referendum passes, people who lost jobs in March could be hired back in April, he said.
“We’ll try and save as many as we can,” Mullins said.
At least one cutback will be in effect this month. Mullins said the school board will not replace Nelson Campus assistant principal Jennifer Bertino, who is leaving the district to take a principal’s job in Channahon.
About 500 youngsters attend the Nelson Prairie and Nelson Ridge Schools, so assistant principals from other schools may have to help out, Mullins said.
