Did your wages go up 5% this year? For the vast majority of us, they did not. Showing once again how disconnected from the community they are, both elementary district 97 and OPRF high school district 200 are likely raising our taxes by the maximum allowed by law, 5%.
Sure, most people around town might think “Well, it’s the schools, teachers are great, so I’m sure they really need the money.”
Well, that’s not the case with D200. In the Jan. 18 Community Finance Committee meeting, Alyssa Alfano, director of finance said this increase would result in a budget surplus. D200 has a culture of taking money from us it doesn’t need — in 2005, it used a loophole to raise taxes more than 16%. This overtaxing over the years is how they amassed the absurd reserve fund — over $135 million at one point.
Since they don’t need the money, they’re looking for ways to spend it.
One under discussion right now: use the surplus to pay for high-interest loans, and use those borrowed funds to pay for maintenance projects planned in future years. With this scheme, we would be paying more than $300,000 per year in interest alone, an amount that would be better spent on learning specialists, social workers, or teachers.
If that’s not absurd enough, remember we have $96 million (earning 0% interest) in that reserve fund, a reserve fund D200’s own special committee recommended be spent down to $25 million, the level recommended by the Illinois State Board of Education, by 2021.
It’s as if you or I had $1 million in the bank (earning 0% interest), but still take a $200,000 loan for a rehab project that requires paying $300 a month in interest! No one would do this and D200 shouldn’t do this, either.
So why are they doing this? Their culture is if there are tax dollars they can take, they are going to whether they need them or not. In the recent past, the board took their overtaxing ways to heart and froze increases every two of three years. It appears those days are over.
D200’s culture is to operate in spite of the community, not with it. This was clear through the past decade of pool schemes, where they attempted to bypass and mislead the public at nearly every turn. The top option in the finance director’s Jan. 13 memo on the borrowing issue (https://bit.ly/D200BondsJan13) includes the header, “The district can issue [DSEB bonds] without a referendum to fund capital projects.” They also don’t need public approval to spend the massive reserve fund on facilities, so of course they don’t want to deplete it.
Finally, “The Pool”: Throughout the Jan. 13 borrowing advice document, there are several mentions how this scheme would make it easier to do the $65+ million Project 2, of which “The Pool” is the cornerstone. (FYI: Science lab, special ed classrooms and dozens of classroom upgrades are in Project 4 and 5). Obviously, a 600-seat pool-stadium is more of a shrine to privilege and excess than an asset to our kids’ educational needs.
Even if you’re OK with your taxes going up 5% this year and staying there forever, think of your neighbors who can’t as easily absorb this hit. Please email the board at boe@oprfhs.org and tell them not to take the full 5% increase, use the reserve fund to accelerate the maintenance projects, and if they want to build “The Pool,” to make a case to the community and pay for it with traditional means. And to stop scheming and start respecting us.
Brian Souders is an Oak Park resident.