The Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education is weighing two proposals for a tax referendum question, both of which would result in no net tax rate increase, to fund needed facility projects, officials said.
At a board meeting on Monday, district officials proposed a referendum question asking voters to approve a $420 million bond issue, and another option asking voters to allow the district to increase the property tax rate by 37 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value. Both would fund what officials have called high-priority needs, such as safety improvements and school renovations.
According to board member Mark Rising, the proposed referendum in the fall would be the first in district history to benefit the entire district, rather than focusing on a specific area.
“Literally, there’s no one in the district that doesn’t benefit from this,” he said.
The board is set to make the final decision between the two proposed options, or choose not to put a referendum question before voters, in August.
Both proposals would cost taxpayers the same amount. Officials said the bond issue is more likely to be passed by voters, based on historical data trends and polls taken of district voters, but the tax rate increase is better for the district because it provides more consistent and flexible funding than the bonds.
The tax rate increase option would also keep the district debt-free once it finishes paying off the bonds in 2026 it took out to build Metea Valley High School in Aurora.
Paying off those bonds is central to the district’s plan, regardless of which option the Indian Prairie Board of Education decides to put before voters in the November general election.
Both options were designed to cost taxpayers the same amount they are currently paying towards retiring the bonds issued for the Metea Valley High School project, meaning that, if one is approved by voters, it would result in no net tax increase. That’s according to District 204 Chief School Business Official Matt Shipley, who gave a presentation on the two proposals at Monday’s board meeting.
Currently, taxpayers are paying 37 cents per $100 of equalized assessed property value toward paying off the Metea Valley High School bond issue, which was approved by voters in 2006. Both referendum question options are designed to effectively extend that tax past 2026, when the bonds are set to be paid off.
The tax to pay off the Metea Valley High School bond issue and any tax approved by voters in the November election would not overlap, according to Shipley.
According to Rising, the proposed referendum question on the ballot in November would not say it would result in no net tax increase. Instead, voters would simply see that the district wants to raise taxes or take on hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
Because of this, the district and those in favor of the tax continuation will need to educate voters about the referendum question, Rising said.
Board President Laurie Donahue said she is worried that, even with informational campaigns, “most of our voters will go into the booth fairly uninformed.”
If the board does not put a tax referendum question on the fall ballot, or if the continuation of the tax were to be voted down, taxpayers would see a property tax reduction of around $93 for every $100,000 of assessed property value, according to previous reporting.
With the potential $25.5 million each year in additional funding if a referendum question is approved, the district is looking primarily to fund maintenance and other facility projects that have been deferred in an effort to keep property taxes low, Shipley previously said at an informational meeting for the public about the referendum proposal.
The Indian Prairie School District currently has less funding per student than the state average and far less than similarly high-performing districts like Geneva and Barrington, according to a presentation given by Shipley and District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley at that meeting on April 16.
Even if the tax continuation were to be approved, Talley said the district would still be below the state average and comparable districts in per-student funding.
Deferred maintenance projects are now catching up with the district, and nearly every building needs some type of work, Shipley said at the time. Some need heavier work, such as complete renovations that touch nearly every inch of the building.
Around 80% of the district’s buildings were built between 1985 and 2003, and because of their age, those buildings now need major projects like roof and heating, ventilation and cooling system replacements to continue operating safely, according to Shipley.
He said many buildings also need security improvements, such as more secure entrances.
These needs were identified in a Facilities Master Plan that the district worked on throughout 2023. The tax referendum proposals were created by looking at the district’s needs identified in the plan, Shipley said at Monday’s meeting.
More information about the proposed tax continuation can be found on the district’s web page dedicated to the issue at www.ipsd.org/saferstronger204
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
