School Board Votes 6-1 to Increase Levy 1 Percent

The owner of a $315,000 home can expect a tax increase of about $304 for the School District 304 portion of his or her tax bill next year.

The Geneva School Board voted 6-1 Monday night for a 1.0 percent tax-levy increase — less than the 1.7 percent it could have sought under tax-cap legislation but not the zero percent one board member lobbied for.

School Board member Mike McCormick cast the lone dissenting vote. He said now is the time for the district to dip into its reserves, if necessary, to pay the bills.

"If not how, when?" McCormick said. "I would request Option 3 — a zero percent levy. What the bloody heck is the reserve there for if not for this? Everybody is tightening our belts, people are hurting out there. ... I don’t think we’re out of this (recession) yet, and I think people would appreciate everything we can do."

Other board members said the funding "unknowns" in the coming year — reductions in state funding, a possible pension-burden shift to school districts, costs associated with the Affordable Healthcare Act, to name a few — would make a zero-percent levy increase less tenable. 

"It doesn’t take long for actions in Springfield to wipe out what we have," School Board member and Finance Committee Chairman Bill Wilson said. "It is my hope in the future that EAV (equalized assessed value) starts to rebound and we see some relief. If we go with half of the max — I think we can absorb it this year, but that’s not a longterm solution."

Leslie Juby said she had followed closely the discussions about major school-funding reform by the state of Illinois as well as the ramifications of the ACA, which is likely to result in additional School District expenditures for a number of employees.

"The ACA actually terrifies me," Juby said. "As I add all those things together, knowing we can take those (funds levied this year) and set them aside, I’m actually leaning toward 1 percent. I would love to say zero percent, but these things that are out there are very scary to school districts."

School Board Vice President Kelly Nowak said the 1 percent levy increase was good middle ground between the 1.7 percent it could levy and the zero percent some residents — particularly those on fixed income — would like to see.

"I like the idea that we’re not taking every thing we could; we’re taking what we need," she said.

Also at issue Monday night was whether the School Board might initiate full-day kindergarten in the coming year. Juby suggested that the expenses associated with full-day kindergarten might require the 1 percent tax-levy increase.

McCormick said he felt that was not the case.

"I don’t know if a 'no' vote on the 1 percent is a 'no' vote for all-day kindergarten," he said.

Mary Stith supported the 1 percent levy, but she questioned whether the School District could continue to levy less than the full amount allowed by the tax cap in coming years. She noted that reducing the reserves and cutting budgets "affects our financial credibility."

"Fiscally responsible means you deliver a good product for the money," she said. "We have done a lot of cuts ... Do we want to spend it all right now, or do we want to weather this economy?"

Sandra Ellis, a member of the Geneva TaxFACTS citizens group, asked board members to consider the effects of escalating property-tax increases.

"I’m scared as a taxpayer," she said. "I’m on a fixed income. My property value is decreasing, so I look to see what I can cut next year ... Obamacare is going to affect me, too, and I’m going to have to pay for it."