While opponents of a proposed peaker power plant in Libertyville were encouraged by early returns Tuesday night on a referendum question measuring public support, voters in a financially troubled school district in Round Lake appeared to be leaning in favor of providing tax relief.
By a 2-1 ratio in early returns, Libertyville voters were leaning toward rejection of the proposed plant.
The referendum question on whether Libertyville should prohibit Indeck Energy Services Inc. from building a $100 million peaker plant is only advisory but, as a test of public sentiment, other municipal leaders will likely remember the vote.
But Greg Wassilkowsky, an executive at Indeck in Buffalo Grove, said Tuesday night that the results should have little bearing on Libertyville’s decision because state laws carefully spell out under what circumstances villages can block construction of peaker plants.
Still, leaders of Concerned Citizens for Lake County said their concerns over smog, noise and doubts about the need for additional power compelled them to oppose building the plant in an industrial park near residential neighborhoods.
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Meanwhile, the stakes were high for supporters of the referendum proposal in Round Lake Area District 116, which has a cumulative budget deficit of $9.7 million and has been on the state’s financial watch list since 1992. In early returns, voters appeared to favor by a 2-1 ratio a District 116 request for $14.5 million in building bonds to help finance additions and upgrades at schools in the district.
In one illustration of the district’s budget problems, enrollment grew at a steady 100 additional students each year in the late 1990s but, this school year, the number increased by 215 pupils, according to district leaders.
If the measure failed, school officials have said they will consider $3 million in budget cuts in salaries as well as programs in art, sports, music and extracurricular activities.
A similar funding proposal was voted down last fall. In order to make the current proposal more palatable, the district was able to lower its request to $14.5 million from $16 million in building bonds because of a promised increase in state construction funds if the measure passes, according to Kurt Valentin, district director of business affairs.
With fewer than half of precincts reporting, voters in Beach Park Community Consolidated School District 3 were supporting by a 2-1 ratio a $19.3 million bond issue to build a new middle school and upgrade current facilities. Its passage would mean an increase of $245 in annual property taxes on a $150,000 home.
The district said it needs the money because some 400 new homes are in the planning stages in its territory, which could translate into 400 to 600 more students in the next three to four years. A similar request was rejected by Beach Park-area residents in the November election.
“It’s a great vote of confidence. It’s great news for kids,” Larry Fleming, District 3 superintendent, said Tuesday night.
Elsewhere, six other school districts sought funding approval for building construction or educational services. Also on the ballot were four requests for additional taxpayer support from park, library and fire protection districts in Buffalo Grove, Gurnee, Winthrop Harbor and Mundelein.
In Lake Zurich, residents were asked to approve a property tax increase to pay for a new 30,000-square-foot police facility. Lake Forest voters were to decide on a city request to buy a downtown parcel for more than $6 million to make room for municipal services.
Funding requests were also on ballots in Bannockburn School District 106, which residents rejected last year, Diamond Lake School District 76, Fremont Center School District 76 in Mundelein, Grant High School District 124 in Fox Lake and Oak Grove School District 68 in Green Oaks.
In Community Unit School District 220 in Barrington, district officials were seeking voter approval of $15.4 million in bond issues to finance improvements in school buildings.