Voters in Palos Heights District 128 are being asked to consider a $0.59 limit rate increase to address the district’s $2 million annual operating budget deficit and support needed improvements to its four schools.
If approved, the increase will generate about $2.4 million in annual revenue to address ongoing challenges such as transportation, staffing shortages, maintaining class sizes and academic programs and preserving extracurricular opportunities, district officials said.
District 128 schools are Chippewa Elementary, Independence Junior High, Indian Hill and Navajo Heights.
Robert Grossi, District 128’s independent financial adviser, said the referendum would increase the base tax levy to create a continuous revenue source to balance the district’s operational budget. He said annual increases afterward will be capped by the rate of inflation or 5%, whichever is lower under, under tax cap limitations.
Grossi said homeowners pay about $3,200 annually to the district. The referendum states for a home with a fair market value of $100,000, the estimated tax impact would be $179. For a $400,000 fair market value home, he said the estimated increase would be about $522, or $44 a month.
Grossi said the ballot language gives a higher figure because it does not include any potential tax exemptions that would lower the tax impact.
District 128 has a property tax rate of about 2.832%, the lowest rate property tax rate of out nearby districts, according to the district’s website. The proposed limiting rate would bring the tax rate up to about 3.095955% for levy year 2026, according to the referendum.
Grossi said the new rate would keep the district’s property tax rate one of the lowest among its 18 peer districts.
The district also spends the least on its students in part due to low state funding, Grossi said.
A majority of the district’s funding comes from property taxes, and about 23% of the school’s funding comes from the state and federal sources. About 5% comes from state evidence-based funding, according to a community presentation from the district.
The district spends about $15,099 per pupil, receives about $727 in evidence-based funding. Comparatively, some districts such as Posen-Robbins District 143.5 spend thousands more on students and receive thousands more in evidence-based funding, according to district data.
Superintendent Jason Smit said one problem the district faces is increasing enrollment. The district has seen a 28% growth in enrollment over the past decade, meaning the demand to invest in students is higher than before.
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Kelsey Senesac, a mom and teacher with four young boys in the district, said she made the decision to move to the area in 2023 with the quality of the schools in mind. She said while the tax increase is not ideal, she supports the referendum because she wants the schools to be able to keep supporting their students.
“It comes at a hard time where everything is increasing, but we have the lowest spending rate per student and our community’s children should not have to feel the implications of decisions from adults,” Senesac said. “If we don’t fix the deficit ourselves, the state steps in with oversight and makes decisions about our kids, our staff and our buildings.”
Jeff McGee, who has an 8-year-old in a private school but lives in the district, said he thinks more funding is needed to accommodate growth. He cited transportation services and staffing as two areas that would benefit from more funding.
“It’s not necessarily me thinking we need to use the money for anything big, grand and new,” McGee said. “I think this is what just helps us keep sustaining (that support) while accommodating the growth that we are having.”
The district plans to make about $1 million in reductions during the 2027-28 academic year regardless of the referendum, according an infographic from the district. If the referendum does not pass, the district will make another $1 million in reductions during the 2028-29 academic year, according to the district’s website.
Homeowners can calculate how the proposed limiting rate would affect their tax bill by going to www.d128.k12.il.us/ and clicking on D128 budget matters.