 Chairman Bob Farmer moved the matter to the first order of business.
Finance chairman Chuck Ruben brought forward the ordinance at the
committee's recommended rate of 1 percent. The motion was seconded
by Andrew Meister, then opened for discussion.
At last week's board-of-whole meeting, there had been
considerable discussion and an amendment that gained significant
support to set the rate at one-half of 1 percent.
Jean Anderson, superintendent for Regional Office of Education
38, was present. Ruben asked Anderson if she would come forward to
answer some of the board's questions about the administration of the
funds and who would be responsible for seeing that the funds would
be used appropriately.
Anderson began by explaining the system of checks and balances
set by the state of Illinois, including her office, school districts
and the county officials.
She recently attended the annual training that is specific for
administering the program. This was provided through the Illinois
State Board of Education.
There is a best practice already established, she said. How it
all works would be explained in more detail through media releases
and made available on the ROE website.
The tax dollars would be put in a specific fund in the Illinois
state treasurer's office and transferred direct to the ROE.
At the individual school district level, the sales tax must be
deposited in a separate, dedicated account titled the School
Facility Sales Tax Fund, and it would be used only for school
facility purposes.
The Illinois attorney general's office audits ROEs. A copy of the
ROE audit is provided to the county every year.
The ROE receives and reviews school district budgets every year,
and those are available to the county. The building projects with
details have been, and would continue to be under the ROE purview.
Recalling the board's concern for accountable use and
administration of the funds, Anderson said, "I know you are just
concerned that money is going to be distributed in an appropriate
way."
She also reiterated individual district plans to abate a portion
of property taxes with the sales tax that would come in:
LIST
LCHS would rebate a portion of property tax with all the tax that
comes in, and West Lincoln-Broadwell would rebate a portion of those
taxes.
Other districts hope to stabilize by using the new tax fund
toward required upgrades and thereby not have to ask for an increase
in property taxes, she said.
Mount Pulaski intends to pay off a recent building project and
then do needed upgrades to 1912 and 1927 sections of the high
school.
Olympia has roofing work to do.
Chester-East Lincoln is in the middle of a major boiler project
that would get paid off more quickly.
Hartsburg-Emden has restrooms that have been closed off on the
second floor. "Something right away is going to have to be done to
those," she said.
Lincoln Elementary District 27 has roof and boiler repairs.
New Holland-Middletown has repairs including the gymnasium floor.
One of the areas of use for the tax is to meet "life safety"
measures.
Life safety requirements are driven by lawsuit or probable
lawsuit situations, Anderson explained. Life safety regulations are
part of the school code set by the state and subject to frequent
changes.
"So, schools have, have to keep up with those changes. They don't
have a choice," she said.
Moving to another concern observed by a board member last week,
Anderson explained that, yes, one of the school districts does have
plans to purchase property. The Lincolnland Technical Education
Center, or LTEC, a six-district board-run program, is considering a
lot for its building trades program for next year.
The students in that program have built a complete house for the
past 46 years. "That is something that not every school district or
county can brag about," she said.
Another option LTEC is considering is to buy an existing building
to renovate for a Lincoln beautification project.
LTEC is also seeking to start a cosmetology program.
Other LTEC plans include sharing space with Heartland Community
College and participation in the development partnership's business
incubator project.
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Anderson also assured the board that schools have "made
sacrifices and cut costs to reflect the times." She illustrated with
the two biggest school districts:
LCHS has reduced two administrative positions and eight teaching
positions, reduced its budget by $1 million, and is currently
discussing the possibilities of shared transportation.
District 27 eliminated many certified and noncertified positions
last year.
"Please keep in mind that when positions are eliminated, that's
people, that's jobs. It's hard. But, they're doing what they have to
do," she said.
In additional assurance, she said that our districts are looking
for ways to use our tax dollars in efficient and effective ways.
A program was started last fall that targeted students most at
risk to not graduate, and it has saved seven students -- six already
graduated and one on track to graduate soon.
In Illinois, 11 counties have passed this sales tax, starting
with Williamson County in 2008, then Cass, Champaign, Jo Daviess,
Schuyler, Lawrence, Knox, Macon and Warren, with the two newest from
the April election being Franklin and Logan.
Anderson was confident that voters understood the request to be
for the full 1 percent, as it was promoted and put on the ballot
that way.
She invited any questions from the board.
Board member Gene Rohlfs stated, "This is a brand-new source of
revenue." He then asked, "Why is it important to set it at the top
limit at this time?"
Anderson replied, "Should the entire amount (1 percent) not be
implemented, it is possible that property tax would have to be
increased in order to cover pressing needs that cannot be ignored."
She referenced broken boilers, leaky roofs and restrooms that pose
risks to students and adults.
"It makes no sense to me to enact half of it, and then the
districts have to go out and bond and raise property taxes to get
the other half, when this could be done without utilizing that
source," she said.
Rohlfs commented on the flip side about how the new tax would
inflate purchases, specifically targeting fuel. He observed that
gasoline has about doubled as it is since the new tax initiative was
begun.
Anderson countered, questioning whether that would be a
"negative." She gave as an example a Logan County business she knows
of that often fuels its fleet in Macon County and is already paying
the increase there. And, the Macon County schools are benefiting,
she said.
She heard from Mark Hughes of Inland Tool in Mount Pulaski that
the Warrensburg-Latham School District just built an $11 million
addition, and his property taxes are set to go down $500 a year.
Champaign County has something like a $170 million building
project going on because their school districts had been so
neglected, and now they have the funding without going out and
burdening those who pay property tax, Anderson said.
Williamson County has collected $14 million since 2008.
Ruben contributed to the line of thinking about the rise and fall
of gas prices, which would lead to more and less sales tax income
for the schools, and how that might impact the schools, especially
if it were only half a percent.
"We can't change it (the rate) on a moment's notice," he said.
In a closing example, Anderson said: "We had one of those buckets
of chicken the other night and it was $10. It would have cost an
extra dime. I find dimes that people drop on the ground and don't
even bother to (she paused) … I pick them up, and pennies and
anything else." Which brought chuckles around the room.
She acknowledged that the sales tax would be more noticeable on
big-ticket items, but most of the time not even noticed and would
add up nicely for the schools.
When the board chairman called for the vote, nine board members
approved the full 1 percent. Rohlfs was the single "no." Rick
Aylesworth and Jan Schumacher were absent.
The ordinance now goes on display for 30 days and then will be
sent to the state. The tax on sales begins on Jan. 1, 2012. Schools
could begin seeing those funds return in March.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
Past related article
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