The referendum stakes were higher than usual Tuesday in southwest suburban school, library and park districts stymied by insufficient revenues.
But although some districts seeking tax increases may have been able to convince voters of their financial plight, many more were not.
In the case of school districts in which referendum measures were defeated, the future may include budget cuts, teacher layoffs and, possibly, school closings, according to officials.
Among the school districts counting heavily on voters for help Tuesday was Joliet Elementary District 86. Voters there were asked to approve a 44-cent increase in the school system’s education fund rate.
But with 87 percent of the precincts within the district reporting, the referendum measure was being narrowly defeated by just more than 100 votes.
Before the election, district officials said that without the increase, the district, which serves some 8,600 grade schoolchildren in Joliet, faced the likelihood of continually mounting deficits and the possibility of being taken over by the state.
“If this referendum bid goes down, we’ll put it to another referendum again,” said District 86 Supt. Louise Coleman. “With the growth we’re experiencing in the district, we just can’t cut our budget anymore.”
The tax increase, if approved, would boost the district’s educational fund property tax rate to about $1.66 for each $100 of equalized assessed valuation from about $1.21, district officials said.
Voters in Chicago Ridge in southwest Cook County voted on two proposed property tax increases designed to rescue Chicago Ridge Elementary School District 127 1/2 from the threshold of deficit spending. Early returns Tuesday night were inconclusive.
The district had been seeking a 75-cent increase in its property tax rate for each $100 of equalized assessed valuation for its operations and maintenance fund.
District voters also were asked to approve a rate increase of 25 cents for the school system’s educational fund.
District Supt. Bernard Jumbeck said the the additional tax revenue was sought to upgrade school buildings badly in need of repair.
In Chaney-Monge School District 88 in Crest Hill, just north of Joliet, voters were asked to approve a 75-cent increase in the district’s educational fund tax rate. Seven previous attempts to win voter approval since 1991 had failed, and with nearly half the precincts reporting Tuesday night, the referendum measure was losing again, by a 6-4 ratio.
District Supt. Gus Tomac said before the election that the district had no choice but to seek the increase, having already cut its $1.7 million annual budget to the bone.
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Elsewhere voters were asked to approve tax rate increases in Channahon Elementary School District 17 (a 65-cent rise) and Richland School District 88A (a 59-cent increase).
And, in Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202, which includes parts of Will and Kendall Counties, voters were asked to give their blessings to a plan by the district’s board to issue $84.9 million in bonds to help pay for an addition to Plainfield High School and to construct a high school, a middle school and two elementary schools.
With three of 35 precincts reporting early Tuesday night, the proposal was narrowly losing by a vote of 426-392.
Voters in Willow Springs were to determine whether book lovers and families with school-age children in that municipality will continue paying $246 a year in order to borrow books from a local public library.
By not belonging to a library district, Willow Springs residents have had to pay $246 a year to join the Suburban Library System. That’s the only way they have been able to use the Justice library or any other southwest suburban public library in the system.
Approval of the referendum measure would mean an increase of about $90 a year in property taxes for Willow Springs homeowners.
Voters in Matteson in far southwest Cook County were asked to approve two referendum measures.
One sought voters’ blessings on the village’s plan to issue up to $15 million in general obligations bonds for building a community recreation complex.
The complex, as proposed, would include, an aquatic center, lighted baseball and softball fields, and a bike trail, among other things.
The other referendum in Matteson sought voter approval for a 20 percent increase in the village’s recreational fund property tax rate so that funding would be available to staff and maintain the center.
But with half the precincts in Matteson reporting, both referendum measures were being soundly defeated.
In other referendum questions in the region, voters in Manhattan, south of Joliet, were asked to nearly triple their tax rate for the village’s Park District so that the district could hire a full-time maintenance worker to maintain the district’s five parks.
And in Frankfort, voters in the village’s library district were asked to approve a $1.2 million bond issue for an addition to the district’s library building and a 5-cent increase in the district’s property tax rate.
The proposal had been defeated twice in the past. And with 11 of 18 precincts reporting early Tuesday night, the measure was being defeated again,by a 6-4 margin.