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Residents in the 68 square mile area of Kendall, Will and Kane counties that comprises Oswego SD308 pay a lot in property taxes to the school district and other local taxing districts every year.
In a recent questionnaire, we asked the candidates seeking four open seats on the district’s Board of Education in the April 4 election to assess the current level of taxation by the district, whether they would support any plans to raise taxes and if they would support lowering the district’s tax level. If they did support lowering taxes, we asked the candidates to identity which programs or services they would cut.
Here is how the candidates responded:
(To see how the candidates responded to the complete questionnaire, visit our website at KendallCountyNow.com)
Jared Ploger
Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?
Illinois is a high taxed state. The easy answer here is yes. I would tend to agree with that answer also. However, we must also be aware of the taxes we pay that go to pay for our brick and mortar buildings of our schools. So many of our schools are not yet paid for. This extra tax burden can not be avoided at this point. The level itself does not take into consideration past expenditures and the decisions that were made. When one factors in that debt piece, it gives a different view of the overall tax burden.
Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?
The question is “any” plans. I don’t believe in absolutes. There are always scenarios in which one needs to raise and lower revenues. The best thing to spend any new resources and revenues on are the things that most directly impact our students’ learning as much as possible and as best we can.
Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?
Again, there are always scenarios in which one needs to raise and lower revenues. Are we near a scenario for lowering revenues? Not while we remain 64% funded according to the Evidence Based Formula and while we have this amount of debt from the great expansion that lead to many new buildings. We are in no position to cut programs or services in this District. We are still struggling from years of cuts during the 2010s.
Kevin Johnson
Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?
Our district voters are not taxed at an appropriate level as the debt ratio of the district school system is extremely high. This issue MUST be addressed.
Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?
I would not support to raise taxes in the district without trying every imaginable option to do otherwise. Any additional revenue (if required) should be based on items that aid the improvement of student proficiency.
Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?
If it were found that programs and/or services or either providing little or no value to the improvement of the student experience and proficiency; they should be either altered to provide greater value or canceled.
Dominick Cirone
Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?
SD 308 local taxes are divided into two categories, operational and debt-service. About 75% of the SD 308 taxes go towards operations or educating our students, the other 25% is to pay off the debt incurred to build many of our current schools. Over the years, I have advocated for the restructuring of those bonds to help lower the overall costs and make it more manageable for the taxpayer to budget. That has happened and those bonds will be paid for in approximately 10 years. The large amount of debt has put a burden on the taxpayer that is disproportionate compared to a typical school district due to the fast growth. That is the reason we have high taxes relative to other districts. One of my goals is to find opportunities, in partnership with building level staff and a new superintendent, to implement best practices that are shown to improve student achievement and lower long-term costs to strengthen the financial health of the district and community.
Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?
The district is currently considered funded at 64% according to Evidence-Based Funding metrics at the state. Many surrounding districts are well above 100%. The school district levy is capped at 5% or rate of inflation, whichever is less. In order to continue to pay teachers, bus drivers and all our staff competitive wages and to retain their services we need to provide pay increases. 85% of our operational costs are for employee pay and benefits so any increases or cuts will generally come from or to our employees. Cuts to teachers and staff will definitely impact short-term and long-term student achievement as well as the short-term and long-term financial health of the district.
Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?
We have gone through this before in SD 308 and the cuts forced were devastating and we are still feeling it today in student achievement, ability to recruit, resources for our children with IEPs transportation, long-term financial impact, etc. I know that the cuts forced onto the district were necessary in order to balance the budget but it has certainly cost us over the long-term financially and academically. While we could’ve been investing in proper services we ended up having to cut those services and our district now has to pay even more in order to help those same students who could’ve been helped much more efficiently had we not had to make those cuts. This is a case of $1 of prevention is worth more than the $100 to cure. We need to get this district to be an efficient academic organization in order to get strong achievement and long-term financial health!
Heather Gregar
Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?
Tax relief needs to be a priority. Our current tax rate is inflated due to the outstanding bonds.
Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?
My priority is to cut wasteful spending and provide financial oversight across the balance sheet. Identify ways to better utilize resources across the district. Prioritize budget dollars to best serve our students.
Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?
I would appreciate the opportunity to see exactly what the $51M in other expenditures is being spent on.
Joanne Anastasia Johnson
Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?
The tax rate is fair, however; I do not feel that our children are receiving the academic quality that the citizens are paying for.
Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?
No. Our tax payers are experiencing the same recession challenges as we are as a school.
Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?
No, however; I would look to audit our spending and determine where cuts are viable (such as consulting services) without impacting our ability to improve our academic proficiency. Any savings found would be reallocated to
a. academic programs for both the students and teachers
b. increase pay for teacher’s assistants to be competitive with the market
c. increase pay for bus drivers to be competitive with the market
d. hire full time teacher’s assistants and bus drivers
Amy Murillo
Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?
Our community schools are paid for with a majority real estate taxes. We have less of a business tax base, so the burden falls to our homeowners and that can be frustrating. That being said, we need these taxes to pay for high-quality schools and pay debts. Unless we are willing to sacrifice quality or find other sources of revenue, our district should remain the same.
Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?
Ultimately, I believe in funding our schools appropriately. I know that a tax increase is not palatable to the majority of our community and would like to see our schools fully funded at the state level. As additional revenue comes in, it needs to go to the pressure points in our current budget which revolve around staffing.
Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?
The district is not in a financial position to be able to take in less revenue. Any moves to do this would be to the detriment of our programs, our staff, our kids, and our community.
Mary Jo Wenmouth
Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?
We have a large piece of debt service as a result of the exponential growth in the District several years ago. That debt service is due to be paid off in ten more years. In the meantime, buildings must be maintained - roofs, boilers, general maintenance, etc. Unfortunately this is unavoidable and must be dealt with. Voters turned down the referendum a few years ago, so the only other thing to do is keep increasing the levy. As a taxpayer it’s painful, but it does need to be done.
Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?
If it would be spent directly for the benefit of students/teachers/programs I would support it. We have so many monetary needs in the district now I would hope any additional funds would help address those needs.
Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?
I wish I could say yes, but the district cannot afford to lose any dollars. As it is we are not at the appropriate funding level and we have a large amount of debt service to pay off. I don’t want to cut any programs because I think they benefit the kids so much.
Nicky A. Boecker
Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?
I feel that residents of SD308 are taxed at a rate needed to support our schools. Unfortunately that rate is significantly higher than surrounding communities. I think we need to work with municipalities and other local governing communities to continue to find ways to improve our commercial and industrial tax base, as well as find ways to increase efficiency across governmental organizations.
Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?
Any raise to taxation in SD308 should be taken with caution. Before any consideration of raising taxes would be addressed, I will need to look at all other expenditures to identify any area we might be able to make internal adjustments and minimize inefficiencies. If the district needs increased funding for our students, I would be open to considering an increase in taxes. If we, as a board, decide raising taxes is necessary, I will be sure that the district acts in full transparency in where and why the funds are needed. I will also not advocate or approve threatening the community with cuts, but instead provide a vision for what can be accomplished with these additional funds. It is my hope that as the District continues to improve its interactions with our students, parents and community members, our community will be more satisfied with the value of their investment and fully support our decision.
Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?
I would support lowering taxes and/or offering a rebate if the opportunity was presented and it made sense to do so. I do not have any current programs or services that I would be looking to cut as a new board member. I will always support utilizing our budget conservatively. If the district is saving money and building up its reserves, we need to be aware of this opportunity and still be fiscally conservative, however our planning and foresight should never be for the here and now, but calculations of what we need today, will need tomorrow, and in the future. I will work to ensure we are maximizing our resources and saving where we can, without taking away resources from our students. I believe any financial investment should be directly impacting our teachers, students, and administration to start building the culture and leadership that retains and develops great talent to benefit the district for years to come.
If you are a candidate or know a candidate in the April 4 election who has not yet received our questionnaire, please email news@kendallcountynow.com.