The District 97 Board of Education has not shut the door completely on seeking a referendum in the future, but the chances of it happening in 2007 are slim given the current anti-tax climate in Oak Park, board members said last Wednesday.
At the Sept. 13 meeting, Board President Carolyn Newberry Schwartz said board members acknowledge that Oak Park taxpayers are not ready or willing to take another tax hike next year.
The board did not say officially that it would not seek a referendum in the spring of 2007, but it did say the schools will look to the Village of Oak Park for financial help, and will also explore additional spending cuts.
“I’ve talked with each of you and my sense is that a referendum won’t fly next spring,” she told the board.
Village of Oak Park President David Pope also attended last week’s meeting, along with new Village Manager Tom Barwin.
Pope talked about creating a community-wide partnership of all governing bodies to address such issues as diversity and economic development. Pope’s presentation came after a public hearing on the district’s 2006-2007 budget, and the board’s referendum discussion.
During his 45-minute presentation, Pope said the village was open to helping the district financially, but neither he nor the board offered specifics.
“We’re happy to talk with Dist. 97 in an effort to address and understand the challenges they face, and I suspect that all of the governing bodies would be willing to work toward that end.”
Some on the board members responded favorably to the community-wide plan concept.
“I totally support the idea,” said Peter Barber. “I think we need to start looking at more unique alternatives. Maybe we can find ways to help us long term. I’m more interested in trying to identify some longer-term solutions so we can get future boards out of this constant cut/referendum hell.”
Other taxing bodies, including the Park District of Oak Park, District 200 (Oak Park and River Forest High School) and the Oak Park Public Library, have sought and received referendum approvals since 2002. Partially as a result, property tax bills increased markedly this year for many Oak Parkers.
Schwartz said if the district went for a referendum in 2007, it would not only hurt taxpayers but hurt Dist. 97’s chances for a tax hike in the future.
Dist. 97 has had an average annual deficit of $2.5 million in each of the last four years while also making cuts totaling around $4 million, including roughly $700,000 in cuts this spring.
Newberry Schwartz said the district felt it had made the case to run a successful referendum next year by making cuts over the last four years.
“We thought we were lined up, but events have transpired or conspired in such a way that we’re on the wrong end of that,” she said. “The community, I think, is well aware that we will eventually have to come to them for help.”
Schwartz said if the district can secure other financial support, that could reduce the size of the referendum it will eventually seek from the community.
“We can’t look for $5 or $10 million, but we can look for some money that can help shore up the erosion in our finances, and it needs to be ongoing revenue, and it can’t go away. I think we need to find ways to lower the referendum that we ask for.”
The board said it will also talk with Dist. 200 and River Forest’s District 90 about partnering in shared services. Don Robinson, Dist. 97’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, said the district can find some long- and short-term cost-saving measures, but that a referendum is unavoidable.
“There will always be a need for a referendum,” he said. “Every school district will have to go for referendum every five to 10 years, unless it’s in a very unusual situation, i.e. with stable enrollment with strongly growing and commercial industrial real estate. That type of situation is not growing to happen.”
CONTACT: tdean@wjinc.com
