Sides debate Dist. 15 proposed tax-rate increase

Sides debate Dist. 15 proposed tax-rate increase
Many candidates in school board races join chorus of voices weighing in
Originally published Sunday, Feb. 20, 2005

By Nadia Malik
Daily Herald Staff Writer

With just days left before voters decide on a tax-rate increase question for Palatine Township Elementary District 15, both sides are making last-minute efforts to get their views across.
And many of the eight candidates in April's election for four open school board seats are using the tax-rate increase as a platform. The referendum will be voted on this Tuesday, during the primary election.
Although most of the candidates agree that District 15 needs the 48-cent tax-rate increase, some question financial decisions the board has made in past years.
"One of my main concerns is, of course, financial accountability," candidate Wendy Rowden said. "I do think that in order to maintain a high quality of education and to have a well-functioning district, you can't spend more than you're taking in."
However, Rowden has also been working with Active Citizens Helping Invest in Educational Values and Excellence, a citizens group urging voters to approve the tax-rate increase.
"I think we definitely need some changes, but I don't want those changes on the backs of my children or anybody's children," she said.
If the increase passes Tuesday, district officials have said they will phase it in by 14 cents for the first year, eventually reaching the 48-cent increase by the end of five years.
The district estimates the tax-rate increase will cost the owner of a $300,000 home about $370 a year. However, Northwest Tax Watch, a local tax watchdog group, estimates an increase of $1,020 for that same homeowner.
If the tax-rate increase fails, officials have laid out a list of $12 million in cuts, which include teacher positions and some extracurricular activities.
Kelly Keenan, a challenger in the school board elections, said she believes the current seven board members have been irresponsible with the money they had to work with.
"There's a staggering deficit gap between revenue growth and expenditure growth," she said. "I'm hesitant to support this referendum because I think we need better leadership in there before we pass it."
She said her major concern lies with teacher salaries, which have been raised by a greater percentage than the district's income growth.
"I'd love to give teachers (more money), but we don't have the money to pay for it," she said.
Those who oppose the tax-rate increase have used www.thechampion.org as a major proponent of their opinion. The Web site includes a database that lists the salaries of all the teachers in the district.
The data shows that many teachers could get a 6 percent increase in their salary next year, but the school's income is tied by law to the consumer price index, which is expected to go up 1.9 percent next year.
Opponents of a tax-rate increase argue that since salary costs make up about 80 percent of the educational fund, the district should negotiate the teachers contract based on the knowledge that their income will increase only by the index.
"One hundred percent of our problem is from the spending," said Tim Millar, also a new candidate for the board. "We have to have a budget that is in line with our revenue."
He believes a tax-rate increase could have been avoided if the district budgeted adequately over the years.
Those opposed to the increase are also quick to point out that retired Superintendent John Conyers received a yearly pension of about $183,000 when he left in 2003.
Dave Sieben, a challenger candidate and co-chair of the citizens group, believes voters should separate their issues with the board from the decision to have a tax-rate increase.
"I get the feeling that there's an undercurrent of animosity toward the school board," he said. "Really, what it comes down to is that it's apparent if the referendum fails that education programs will take a step backward."
He said he recommends that anyone who feels that current board members have done a bad job should vote out those members in April, but support the tax-rate increase in the meantime.
Candidates currently on the school board defend their financial track record and their decision to ask for the tax-rate increase because they feel they've done their best to control spending.
"The district, over the last several years, has more than kept its commitment to keep fiscally responsible," said Laura Crane, a current board member up for re-election.
The district asked for their last tax-rate increase, to go toward the educational fund, in the 1990s.
They were never able to reach that requested tax rate of 2.51 percent because of a mandated tax cap.
"We were never able to get to the tax rate that we were authorized, so we have been as responsible as we could," Crane said.
The district has cut $13 million over the last three years, including administrator positions, which they believe have had the least amount of effect in the classrooms as possible.
"You can always do more belt tightening, but the question is how much is it going to affect the classrooms?" said Edward Yung, also an incumbent.
The incumbents also support the contract they have negotiated with teachers in the past.
"You get what you pay for," Yung said. "If you've got great teachers, how are you going to keep them here?"
Current board members also point out that many of the students in the district come from a non-English speaking background, making it harder for teachers to bring them up to a certain level. The district also has lofty goals of making sure 90 percent of their students meet or exceed state standards.
"The results of the district, the results of the children's tests and the results of the children's achievement show we have an extremely high quality staff," current board President Louis Sands said.
He and Nancy Carlson, an incumbent running for re-election, also blame the state Legislature for the way the schools are funded.
"The way funding is set up in Illinois, unfortunately the homeowner has to take that burden," Carlson said.
The board has spent some time lobbying state legislators to change the way Illinois' schools are funded, and Carlson ran her campaign four years ago on the platform that the school would soon need a tax-rate increase.
The board members also blame tax increment finance districts in the towns they cater to, including Palatine and Rolling Meadows, for not increasing their funds.
However, they say one of their major problems is the amount of taxes they're required to return when someone appeals a tax assessment.
"Nobody could have foreseen the amount of money that could come out of current revenues by past mistakes of the tax assessor," Sands said.
Those opposing the tax-rate increase say that the district could have anticipated some of that cost in their budget.
Another major factor in terms of salary is the district's practice to give teachers a 20 percent raise in their last three years as an incentive to retire early.
The idea is to save money by hiring new teachers at lower wages after high-income teachers retire.
But Keenan said studies she has looked at show that teachers don't need that incentive to retire early.
"They're retiring at the same age anyway," she said.
And even though the district residents won't be paying that salary any longer, she said, the taxpayers will eventually have to reach into their pockets to pay into the state's pension funds.