Voters in Will and southern Cook County on Tuesday faced a dozen referendum proposals seeking approval of construction bonds or property-tax increases in school, library and park districts across the region.
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Generating the most interest were tax-hike proposals in Lincoln-Way High School District 210, where officials plan $60 million in new construction, and in Homewood-Flossmoor Park District, where officials hope to buy several pieces of property for $12 million.
The Homewood-Flossmoor measure took a slight lead early in the evening, with 57 percent of voters in four of the district’s 35 precincts approving the purchase.
In the Lincoln-Way High School District, officials asked voters to approve a 14-cent property tax hike per $100 assessed valuation to pay for additions to the district’s junior-senior campus in New Lenox and freshman-sophomore building in Frankfort. The district, one of the fastest growing in the county, plans eventually to turn the campuses into separate, four-year schools.
District officials lobbied voters heavily, dispatching 500 volunteers to knock on doors and hand out fliers touting the benefits of the proposal.
“The kids are coming and, eventually, if things stay the way they are now, we’d have overcrowded conditions and, as a result, our education programs would suffer,” said Stacy Holland, spokeswoman for the district.
Lincoln-Way officials, and their counterparts in several other districts, needed referendum passage to help secure matching construction grants from the state. The grant money was set aside last year under the financial reform legislation approved by the General Assembly.
While some districts sought money for new construction, others sought it simply for financial relief.
Officials in Chaney-Monge School District 88 in Crest Hill asked voters for the ninth time since 1991 to approve a tax hike. After voters rejected a 65-cent tax hike in November, school officials scaled back the request to 57 cents this time.
In Rich Township High School District 227, school officials sought approval of a tax rate increase of 80 cents (to $2.67 for each $100 of assessed valuation) to close a budget deficit.
According to early returns, 52 percent of voters in four of 60 precincts were in favor of the increase.
Aside from asking for money, some municipal officials also asked for more power.
Officials in Minooka, Robbins and Frankfort wanted voters to approve home-rule powers.
In Robbins, with five of 11 precincts reporting, 53 percent of voters were in favor of home rule.