Back in February, a very illuminating article by the OP Township Assessor Ali El-Saffar was published in the Wednesday Journal. It explained that the high school used a quirk in the law to increase its 2005 tax levy by 16.5% - on top of a voter-approved 2002 referendum increase. These increases resulted in $7.7 million of additional revenue to the high school in 2005 and subsequent years. For the full article, see this LINK
Bear in mind that the high school is proposing to issue new bonds to fund a portion of the costs for the new pool/parking structure and other facility improvements. This will create an additional tax burden. That impact cannot be predicted until we know more about the financing specifics for this project. However, remember that we are STILL PAYING TO SERVICE THE DEBT FOR THE PARKING GARAGE that was issued in 2003 when the garage was built. If it is taken down, we will still be paying for those bonds. According to a 2013 WJ article, that debt service was costing the village close to $1 million per year, and will probably go higher. Read the article HERE. (Note: Those bonds were issued by the village of Oak Park, the owner of the parking garage.)
For those of you who are newer visitors to this website, please scroll down and review some of the earlier posts. In particular, THIS POST reviews PLAN A (which we are calling the pragmatic plan) and PLAN B (the approved plan, which is subject to further revision). This CHART compares Plan A and Plan B in an easy to read format. (It also includes Plan C, the underground pool plan, though that plan seemed to have little support)
The next meeting of the BOE is Tuesday, August 16. We will post the agenda and any additional details once they are on the high school's website HERE. At this meeting, the school board will present its final plan with modifications to lower the cost, possibly to under $50 million. They will also discuss, and possibly finalize, the funding parameters and referendum ballot question.
Pragmatic Solutions - OP-RF
