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player ready...Evanston/Skokie School District 65 may turn to voters come April to approve a multi-million dollar property tax increase referendum that would provide more revenue to the district to stave off projected deficits in the millions of dollars.
The board’s finance committee is expected to discuss a possible $13.5 million operating referendum at a meeting scheduled for Monday night, according to District 65 Board of Education President Candance Chow.
If the board’s finance committee votes Monday to recommend a referendum be put on the spring ballot, the full school board would discuss and take a final vote on the issue at its meeting slated for Jan. 10, she said.
The district faces projected deficits ranging from $5.1 million in 2018 to $24.4 million in 2025 totaling an estimated $114.4 million over the eight-year period, District 65 Supt. Paul Goren told school board members at a Dec. 5 meeting. If a $13.5 million operating referendum is approved by voters next spring, the cumulative projected deficit between 2018 and 2025 would will shrink from $114.4 million to $1.2 million, he said.
According to district officials, the average Evanston taxpayer shelled out roughly $8,000 in property taxes this year. If the proposed referendum is approved, voters paying the average tax amount would likely see their property tax bill increase by $438 annually.
The district balanced its $114 million budget for the 2016-17 school year. If the referendum fails or isn’t put on the ballot, Goren said the district will need to cut nearly $9 million in spending to balance its books over the next two years.
The cuts would increase class sizes, affect enrollment practices, result in the elimination of student programs and activities and lead to job losses across all position categories, he said. Additionally, the cuts may also lead to school closings, consolidation of school buildings and the institution of multi-grade classrooms.
Between 2011 and 2016, the district trimmed $5.7 million in non-instructional related expenses, including central office administration and facilities maintenance costs, as well as $4.5 million worth of instructional expenses, including 15 teaching positions and two clinician positions, according to Goren. He said those prior cuts in spending make it difficult for district officials to trim any more expenses from the district’s budget without noticeable changes to school operations.
“Just to be explicit, my recommendation is to move forward on a referendum proposal to go before the voters,” Goren said.
District officials are expected to begin early next year to discuss alternative cost reduction options should the referendum fail to pass or not make it on the ballot at all, he said.
Lee V. Gaines is a freelancer.