As originally planned, the Oak Park Elementary District 200 Board on Dec. 18 lowered its tax levy by $10,250,000 from 2012 in a 6-1 vote.
In addition, the Board unanimously approved an abatement of more than $2.5 million from the district’s debt-service levy. As a result, the district for a third straight year will use its cash reserves rather than future property taxes to make its debt payments.
“We have a public trust issue in terms of financial responsibility. I am committed to that. The original tax levy wouldn’t do that,” said Board member Tom Cofsky, who voted in favor of the reduction.
Oak Park Elementary District 97’s Board unanimously adopted its 2014 levy of nearly $53.6 million on Dec. 16. River Forest School District 90 also unanimously adopted its 2014 levy of more than $20.3 million on Dec. 15.
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A Finance Advisory Committee specially assembled by District 200 in 2013 recommended the Board provide relief to taxpayers by reducing the levy by 10 million in 2013 and 2014. However, the Board this year added $250,000 to the reduction, setting the tax levy at more than $54.7 million.
The compounded effect of the reduced levies is expected to leave about $72 million in taxpayers’ wallets over 10 years.
The 2015 tax levy is expected to return to the 2012 level.
Board President John Phelan said he wasn’t a fan of having such a large fund balance but that it would be reckless not to follow the FAC’s recommendation.
“For me, it was important that we come in for a soft landing,” he said. “For me, it’s a matter of balancing our priorities as a board going forward.”
However, many think the district, which has a fund balance around $115,000, has not gone far enough in lowering the levy.
Board member Sharon Patchak-Layman was the lone vote against the levy because she said the levy doesn’t return enough money to taxpayers and doesn’t do it fast enough.
“I think the two-year to four-year proposal from the Finance Advisory Committee could be speeded up,” she said.
Patchak-Layman said more than $30 million should be returned to the taxpayers, especially if the district hopes to pass a referendum in April to replace its two 87-year-old pools.
“I do not think that we can have a successful referendum if we have a fund balance that is in excess of the amount we currently have,” she said. “I think we should make the change now and make sure the money goes back to the community.”
Residents opposed to the levy brought in Chicago-based forensic accountant Dr. Barry J. Epstein to testify at the half-hour hearing that took place before the vote. He reported that based on his review of the district’s published financial data, the approved levy actually represents an 18.3-percent increase.
“The question here is, is it valid to ask taxpayers for additional cash to build up that cash kitty that has grown six-fold over the past 10 years?” he said.
River Forest resident Dr. Barbara Langer, a long-time critic of the fund balance, said the levy would go to “already exorbitant salaries and benefits,” which she said are unsustainable.
“This compensation represents an up to 33 percent increase from 2008 to 2014. It is not tied to teacher performance,” she said.
Oak Park resident John Bokum said his taxes have ballooned from $900 when he moved to the community in the 1970s to more than $14,000 today. He added he pays only $2,400 on two acres he owns in Santa Fe, NM.
“Can you see why I won’t be around here much more after the next two years?” he said.