Would You Like To Save Money On Your Property Taxes?

NOTE: If anyone is interested in helping me pass out flyers around the district please use the email link on the right top to contact me. Your help would be much appreciated.

I will keep a link to this article at the top of my blog until the Grayslake Elementary Board makes their final decision on this bond issue. Please print out this flyer and pass it on to your friends and neighbors. You may also want to subscribe to receive updates about this and other information regarding District 46 schools. You may subscribe at the top of this page.

Let’s walk through the information in a little more detail.

1999	Voters approved borrowing 1$23,195,000.00 to build Prairieview and Frederick schools
2000/2001	Frederick School Opened
2002/2003	Prairieview School Opened
	District spent 2$21,922,393.95 to build both schools saving 3$1,272,608.05
Nov. 2005	District borrowed additional 4$8,172,473.65 against the Frederick and Prairieview bonds exceeding voter approval by 5$6,899,865.60

Source for above chart is the bond presentation made by Elizabeth Hennessey of William Blair & Company. This presentation was given to the school board at their March 20^th meeting. Specifically, they came from:

¹ Page 6
² Bond used total ( page 6 ) + premiums received and spent on bonds ( page 8 )
³ Bond authority approved by voters ( page 8 ) – total spent ^2
4 Page 6
⁵ Bond authority approved by voters ( page 8 ) + Bonds issued 11/03/05 ( page 8 )

This chart provides a better summary of the amounts explained above:

Issue Date	Par Amount	Additional Premium Used	Total Used
09/21/1999	$3,924,935.10	$0.00	$3,924,935.10
07/11/2000	$3,599,940.50	$2,000,059.50	$5,600,000.00
08/29/2001	$3,999,955.00	$3,115,003.69	$7,114,958.69
08/01/2002	$3,497,697.75	$1,784,802.41	$5,282,500.16
Total Dollars Used			$21,922,393.95
Total 1999 Bond Authority			$23,195,000.00
Total Construction Savings			$1,272,608.05

When you review the presentation you will see a claim that they are really only exceeded authority by just over 4 million dollars. This is because they are adding in the savings from previous bond authorities. The law states a bond authority cannot be used once bonds have been issued on new bond authority. This means that any bond authority before the 1999 should not be included in this discussion on how much money is available in the 1999 issue just made last year.

Bond Amount Issued 11/03/2005			$8,172,473.65
Total Construction Savings			$1,272,608.05
Total Overtaxation			$6,899,865.60

As you can see we are now being overtaxed. You might be asking yourself, isn’t this supporting my child’s education? The answer is no. This money can only be used to buy land since Prairieview and Frederick are built. The district would have to come to us and ask for more money to build a school. They already have a new school being built right now at Madrona Village that opens in 2007. The Kasarda Population Study, commissioned by the district, looked at student growth for the next 10 years. It concluded the following (page 29):

Let me get right to the bottom line. With the opening of the Madrona School in 2007, District 46′s overall capacity needs should be met for at least the next ten years, while relieving overcrowding at Fredrick and the Middle School. Should the 1,000 -student initial capacity of Madrona be expandable (as designed) to eventually accomodate 1,400 students, it is my conclusion that your student capacity infrastructure requirements (with periodic school attendance are boundary adjustments) will be met as far out as can be envisioned.

The total amount issued that exceeded voter approval was $6,899,865.60. This is the minimum amount that should be abated. If not, the board will be causing harm to the district by breaking the trust of the voters. I understand that when these bonds were issued, they did it without full knowledge of this information. I supported that decision at the time because of the time constraints involved and the fact that it was very clear in those meetings that this would be revisited in several months.

I believe there is one fundamental question that should be asked first and that is, “Should any amount of bonds issued that exceeded voter approval be abated?“