The referendum stakes were higher than usual Tuesday in southwest suburban school, library and park districts stymied by insufficient revenues.
But while a few districts seeking tax increases convinced voters of their financial plight, many more did not.
In the case of school districts where referendum initiatives were defeated, the future likely will be marked by budget cuts, teacher layoffs and, possibly, school closings, according to school officials.
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Among school districts facing continued financial woes is Joliet Elementary District 86, where voters defeated a proposed 44-cent increase in the school system’s education fund by 44 votes out of 6,506 votes cast.
Before the election, district officials said that without the increase the district, which serves some 8,600 children, faced the likelihood of continually rising deficits and the possibility of being taken over by the state.
“We’ll just have to rethink the situation now and make some decisions for the future,” said District 86 Supt. Louise Coleman.
“I’m encouraged by the fact that it was so close, but I’d be more encouraged to see those numbers reversed,” she added.
The tax increase would have boosted the district’s education fund tax rate to about $1.66 for each $100 of equalized assessed valuation from $1.21, district officials said.
Coleman said it is likely the district will place the tax initiative on the ballot in March, adding, “We can’t afford to cut (our budget) anymore, especially now that our enrollment is growing by leaps and bounds.”
Voters in Chicago Ridge School District 127 1/2 in southwest Cook County also rejected a cry to rescue the district from having to go into debt.
The district sought a 75-cent increase in its property-tax rate for each $100 of equalized assessed valuation for the district’s operations and maintenance fund and a 25-cent increase for the education fund. Both proposals were defeated by an 8-2 ratio.
Much of the revenue that would have been generated by the increased taxes was to be used to upgrade school buildings badly needing repair, said Supt. Bernard Jumbeck.
“We’re depressed, what more can we say?” Jumbeck said. “The only ones that the voters are hurting are the kids and they are our future.”
Jumbeck added that it will be up to the school board to determine whether to place the tax proposal on the ballot in March.
In Chaney-Monge School District 88 in Crest Hill, just north of Joliet, voters again rejected a 75-cent increase in the district’s education fund tax rate. It was the eighth attempt by the district since 1991 to win voter approval for the measure. This time it was defeated by a 6-4 ratio.
District Supt. Gus Tomac said the district has no choice but to continue to seek the increase, having already cut its $1.7 million annual budget to the bone.
Channahon Elementary School District 17 in Will County was among the few districts where voters approved a tax increase. Fifty-seven percent of those voting approved a 65-cent increase in the education tax rate.
Voters in Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202, which includes parts of Will and Kendall Counties, gave their blessings to a plan to issue $84.9 million in bonds to to build an addition to Plainfield High School and to construct a high school, middle school and two elementary schools. The measure won by a 6-to-4 margin.
“We’re ecstatic,” said Sandy Cowgill of a citizens committee that spearheaded a grass-roots effort to get the referendum initiative approved. “The (vote) numbers show our community supports its students and is willing to provide a quality education for our kids.”
Voters in Willow Springs again rejected a proposal to annex the suburb to the library district in neighboring Justice. The ratio of defeat was 7-2. The defeat means book-lovers and families with school-age children in Willow Sprigns will continue to pay $246 a year for library services through the Suburban Library System.
Residents of Matteson in far southwest Cook County turned thumbs down on proposals by the village to build a $15 million community recreational complex and to have their property taxes raised to staff and maintain the center.
In the region’s other referendum issues, 52 percent of the voters in the Wilmington Library District in Will County approved a 7-cent tax increase.
And in Frankfort, voters approved the library district’s plan to issue a $1.2 million in bonds to build addition to the library but defeated a 5-cent property tax increase.
The bond issue was approved by 54 percent of those voting, and the tax hike was defeated by the same percentage of voters. Both proposals had been defeated twice in the past.
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