Working in Hoffman Estates - Family should live where? (property taxes, property)

[ahava]

Originally Posted by GoCUBS1

Nanannie, There is an area in western Barrington Hills that feeds into (IMHO) a very poor performing school system (D300 Carpentersville).

Yes, the portion of Barrington Hills that falls into Kane County, with the exception of a few streets, is in district 300.

[GT28107]

Originally Posted by DecisionTime

We want a community, small-town feel.

Go for the town of Barrington then.

Hoffman Estates is the definition of suburbia with small lots and lots of strip malls, etc.

[nanannie]

I live in Barrington Hills, the kids here go to Barrington High school. Alot of the kids from Carpentersville go to Barrington High school. If there is a parent who lives close to C'ville/Dundee Crown district,they can petition to have their child go to BHS.,I am told its never a problam

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by nanannie

If there is a parent who lives close to C'ville/Dundee Crown district,they can petition to have their child go to BHS.,I am told its never a problam

If they "live close" to C'ville district yet still are in D220, they could attend D220 Barrington schools. But my friends live in the D300 portion of Barrington Hills and had to send their kids to D300 elem/middle schools. They did not have the option to send them to Barrington schools (and I know they contacted the district about this). I'm sure they would like to know about this petition process for the high school though. Since they don't pay taxes into District 220, how does that work? Maybe you can pay an out-of-district tuition to the high school?

BTW, there is a portion of Carpentersville that is in D220- Barrington so those kids can attend D220- Barrington H.S.

[DecisionTime]

Barrington and Arlington Heights are going to be our first pass when looking, based on comments here.

I have made my objectives clear to the realtor that we started working with,, but she keeps sending me listings from Elgin and Schaumburg - I don't understand why. I think it's time to move to a realtor who gets me!

It's hard to shop for a new community in IL from PA

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by DecisionTime

We want a community, small-town feel.

I would suggest you look specifically in "the Village" area of Barrington if you want a small-town feel. Also, you may want to consider Tower Lakes which is just north of Barrington. This is a family-friendly community with homes on a picturesque small lake. I have friends that love it there. They attend North Barrington elem. schools which are excellent.

[DecisionTime]

Thank you - I hadn't heard of Tower Lakes before. I will look into - this board rocks!

[DecisionTime]

Is there a difference? Or are they all different sections of same town? If I want to look specifically at "The Village" area of Barrington, where do I look?

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by DecisionTime

Is there a difference? Or are they all different sections of same town? If I want to look specifically at "The Village" area of Barrington, where do I look?

You could ask for "in town" locations. Barrington is 90 sq miles divided into different villages. Barrington,-South Barrington,-Barrington Hills, -Lake Barrington,-Tower Lakes,-North Barrington. They are all serperate,but yes, all Barrington

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by DecisionTime

P.S. Also interested in knowing how schools are funded in IL... Your thoughts are appreciated. THANKS!

Illinois schools are primarily funded by property taxes. Therefore, there are great disparities in quality of education between different towns. In order to get better schools, you usually need to move to towns that have higher property values.

According to Clare Fauke, of A+ Illinois, a statewide campaign to improve the quality and funding of Illinois schools....

Of the 50 states, Illinois is ranked 49th in state funding for public schools. Fauke said that Illinois schools are primarily funded by property taxes, which means that in poorer communities the income from this tax is not enough to provide the students with the things they need like a longer school day, better teacher training and smaller class sizes.
"There is a huge difference and achievement gap, in test scores and overall achievement, between rich and poor communities," Fauke said.

In 1985 a law was enacted to deposit profits from the lottery in the Common School Fund. In fiscal year 2007 the lottery deposited $619 million, according to Mike Lange, public service administrator for the Illinois Lottery.
This is less than 3 percent of the total funds dedicated to education, Lange said.