Wilmette k-8 schools referendum (Arlington Heights, Oak Park: assessors, home, buying)

[Rlest8]

Share your thoughts on the impact of the outcome....

[cubssoxfan]

We have been studying this a lot. Prospect Heights Dist 23 which serves Prospect Heights and portions of Wheeling, Arlington Heights and Mt. Prospect has a similar referendum on the ballot. Our referendum is to raise the tax rate by $0.35 per $100 for one year. It is designed to safeguard non-mandated programs like Band, Orchestra, Vocal, Art, Sports, P.E. for K-5, Gifted and extra-curricular programs.
We have studied the Wilmette web site and the issues in crafting our own message and web-site.

There are those against it that think/feel: Schools should only teach the 3 R's, Parents should bear the full cost of any non-mandated/core programs, the district wastes money, teachers and administrators are overpaid.
There are those in favor that think/feel: The programs that would be cut contribute tremendously to a child's education and test scores, that when a district goes to fee based activities it discriminates against lower income students and/or affects participation causing a slow death or loss of quality in the program(s); our district has cut 2.7M from the budget and any additional cuts will result in the loss of non-mandated programs, larger class sizes and other actions that may adversely affect the quality of education; our teachers and administration rank from the middle to the lowest in pay compared to neighboring districts and accepted a pay freeze for 2010-2011 school year to help balance the budget.

I do not mind paying fees and more in property tax since I have 2 kids in the district, am involved and have first hand experience with the quality of education. Furthermore, since I anticipate living here for another 10-20 years, I do not want to see the quality and reputation of our school district go down. I have read reports that school districts that decline cost homeowners 6-20% in home value. So when I do quick math i come up with $105 more in taxes on a $300K home or $18,000 drop in home value (6% of 300K). Heck even if the home drops 1% in value because of the degradation of programs and the real & perceived loss of quality by current and prospective home-owners I'm still WAY ahead paying more in taxes.

[Sodium]

What a spectacularly insulting strawman: "There are those against it that think/feel: Schools should only teach the 3 R's, Parents should bear the full cost of any non-mandated/core programs..."

I'm not aware of even a ANYONE who feels that way! Opposition to these never-ending salary spikes is simply predicated on enough is enough. In Wilmette the school board gave the unions a wildly excessive contract guaranteeing steep bumps in salary for the next several years, even while the economy was crumbling! A couple years later and, by golly, they find they don't have the cash meet those big salaries they promised. But there's always an easy solution to cover your mistakes, just raise the taxes! Oh, and make vague pleas that "it's for the children" -- that always gets 'em!

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Sodium

What a spectacularly insulting strawman: "There are those against it that think/feel: Schools should only teach the 3 R's, Parents should bear the full cost of any non-mandated/core programs..."

I'm not aware of even a ANYONE who feels that way! Opposition to these never-ending salary spikes is simply predicated on enough is enough. In Wilmette the school board gave the unions a wildly excessive contract guaranteeing steep bumps in salary for the next several years, even while the economy was crumbling! A couple years later and, by golly, they find they don't have the cash meet those big salaries they promised. But there's always an easy solution to cover your mistakes, just raise the taxes! Oh, and make vague pleas that "it's for the children" -- that always gets 'em!

Hey, lay off the sodium, slow down and read my post carefully:

"We have been studying this a lot. Prospect Heights Dist 23 which serves Prospect Heights and portions of Wheeling, Arlington Heights and Mt. Prospect has a similar referendum on the ballot. Our referendum is to raise the tax rate by $0.35 per $100 for one year. It is designed to safeguard non-mandated programs like Band, Orchestra, Vocal, Art, Sports, P.E. for K-5, Gifted and extra-curricular programs.
We have studied the Wilmette web site and the issues in crafting our own message and web-site."

Our staff took salary freezes lat year and are currently negotiating a new contract. PLEASE DIFFERENTIATE YOUR STATEMENT CORRECTLY BEFORE USING MY QUOTATION INACCURATELY!

[Sarah H.]

I'm for the referendum. I have 3 kids in the school system so why not? If they take away all the "extras" that I feel are important I'll have to seek out private classes which will cost way more than the proposed raise in my taxes and will make our lives more hectic. I'm already shuttling my kids to after school activities as it is. Throw in music, language, art, etc and I'll have to hire a driver to help get everyone where they need to be. Class sizes are already getting larger. We left the city so our kids could have a better school experience. We overpaid on our home because we thought the schools were worth it.

I understand it's a hard choice for senior citizens who's income may be limited. And I get how opponents of the plan feel like the budget issue is due to mismanagement of funds. But the bottom line is I don't want these proposed changes to happen.

[Nodpete]

There was an article in the Sunday Sun-Times quoting the president of the Cook County Township Assessors' Assoc. on how these referendums misquote the amount it will raise your taxes. He gave an example of Oak Park Dist.97 that on the ballot it says that it will raise your taxes $37.40 per $100M, when in reality it will raise your taxes $126.04 per $100M. The reason for the difference is that the school districts do not include the equalizer multiplier in their figures. They do this so that the true cost of the increase doesn't seem as bad.

[US-Traveller]

From what I understand about the referendum much of the money the tax increase will be used for will be to cover the costs of administration. I believe that Wilmette Public Schools should look to cut administration and staff, but try to keep instructional money intact. The problem is that Wilmette Public Schools will look to cut instructional expenditures instead of their own administrative salaries and benefits if the referendum does not pass.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Nodpete

There was an article in the Sunday Sun-Times quoting the president of the Cook County Township Assessors' Assoc. on how these referendums misquote the amount it will raise your taxes. He gave an example of Oak Park Dist.97 that on the ballot it says that it will raise your taxes $37.40 per $100M, when in reality it will raise your taxes $126.04 per $100M. The reason for the difference is that the school districts do not include the equalizer multiplier in their figures. They do this so that the true cost of the increase doesn't seem as bad.

I noticed that also. Our district, Dist 23, did something else that can be construed as dis-honest. The admin. is telling taxpayers the increase is .10/1,000 of home value. In reality it is .35. The admin claims that based on CPI numbers, the rate will automatically go up .25 so the "real" increase is only.10. Not a great way to build trust amongst taxpayers who are paying attention. I told my wife it's similar to buying a car and the dealer agreeing to purchase price of $20K and then coming back and saying "Out the door price" is $22K.
Another challenge is the equalizer will not be firmly determined until November(if I remember correctly)

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by US-Traveller

From what I understand about the referendum much of the money the tax increase will be used for will be to cover the costs of administration. I believe that Wilmette Public Schools should look to cut administration and staff, but try to keep instructional money intact. The problem is that Wilmette Public Schools will look to cut instructional expenditures instead of their own administrative salaries and benefits if the referendum does not pass.

Are you including teachers salaries in your definition of admin. salaries?
Will cutting staff maintain current performance/quality while achieving cost savings needed to keep programs and class sizes intact?

[cubssoxfan]

Congratulations on passing your referendum. Any thoughts on why yours passed and so many others failed?