 At a meeting at Central School on Thursday evening, they developed
an aggressive plan of public, open-forum meetings targeted at
educating voters on the referendum and the effect it will have on
Logan County residents.
They also set a tentative date for their first public meeting,
which will be hosted by the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce
the first week in March. From there the committee will move to
holding meetings at individual school districts as well as special
meetings targeting some of the key voting populations in the county.
The general election in April is what is dubbed as an "off-cycle"
election. There are no important federal or state races, and even
the local offices, such as the five open city council seats, have
only the incumbents on the ballot, running uncontested.
The committee noted that the last off-cycle election was in 2009
and the voter turnout equaled only 16 percent of all registered
voters in Logan County. To get their resolution passed, they will
have to sway the faithful few who always vote and also encourage
supporters of the referendum, who might not otherwise vote, to make
the trip to the polls.
The County Schools Facility Occupation Tax Law was passed and put
into effect by the state of Illinois in October of 2007.
This law enabled school districts to levy a sales tax on certain
consumer products and services, with specific uses for the money
outlined by the law. Since that time, a number of Illinois counties
have implemented the tax.
In November 2010 the local school districts agreed to go forward
with trying to implement the sales tax in Logan County.
The committee then took their request to the county board for a
referendum vote on this year's ballot.
The referendum asks for a full 1 percent sales tax on consumable
goods, with the exception of groceries, prescription medicine,
motorized vehicles, farm equipment and supplies, and services that
are not now taxed, just to name a few.
Every property owner in Logan County is more than likely paying a
portion of their property tax to at least one and in most cases two
school districts.
The portion that is being paid to the schools is being applied to
school bonds that have been issued for life-safety improvements to
the facilities or for building and expansion projects.
Simply put, a bond is a loan that uses property tax levies as
collateral.
When a school district has to invest a large sum of money into
its facilities, a bond is issued and a tax is levied to repay the
bond.
Using key words such as "swap," committee member Roger Matson
said he has been talking to individuals about the tax, explaining
that it will be a swap between sales tax and property tax.
Regional Superintendent of Schools Jean Anderson said she is
telling people that "if it isn't taxed now, it won't be."
The concept behind the sales tax is that it will be a trade-off
for at least a portion of the property tax levy.
Currently several Logan County schools have bonds that they are
paying off with property tax levies. The schools are vowing to abate
a portion of that levy when the sales tax is approved and put into
effect in 2012.
Lincoln High School Superintendent Robert Bagby said that for the
levy the high school has right now, properties valued at $125,000
will have their taxes reduced by about $100 a year from the LCHS
bond alone.
In addition, the sales tax will be cash pooled into a facility
fund for future uses.
Every 10 years, school facilities go through a life-safety
inspection as mandated by the Illinois State Board of Education. As
a result of these inspections, the state board issues mandates for
improvements that must be made to facilities for the safety and
well-being of the students.
With a facility fund in place, the school will have immediate
cash to draw on for these improvements, and Logan County property
owners will be less likely to have to bear the burden of additional
tax levies.
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A key point that the committee hopes to drive home in their
public meetings is going to be that with a sales tax, Logan County
property owners will no longer be the only ones supporting local
schools.
While the sales tax is only 1 percent, the committee anticipates
that it will generate more than the property tax because the sales tax will be
applied to all consumers, including those who pass through Logan
County, making only brief stops for gasoline or fast food.
And finally, once they have the money, do the schools really need
it? Simply put, yes.
In District 27, which includes the city elementary schools and
Lincoln Junior High School, many of the buildings are at least 50
years old.
In a letter of support for the sales tax, Superintendent Mary
Ahillen wrote: "Washington-Monroe is operating with an original
boiler that will soon have to be replaced, the roof is leaking into
the library, and the windows are inefficient. Northwest shares the
challenges of single-paned windows and doors to the outside and need
replacing; the boilers at Adams and Jefferson (are experiencing) an
increase in energy consumption that can be remedied with new
controls."
In a similar letter from the Mount Pulaski Community Unit
District 23 school board, it was noted that portions of the existing
high school were built in 1912 and 1927. The board would like to be
able to consider replacing these older buildings. In addition, work
needs to be done on the bleachers at the high school, improvements
are needed in the parking and sidewalk areas, roof repairs are
needed, and a boiler replacement is also in their future.
Chester-East school board member Ken Golden said the school needs
to do a great deal of work on their boiler system as well. In that
building, the boiler pipes are embedded in the concrete floors, and
the work to be done is going to be very costly.
He also said the school doesn't have time to wait for the sales
tax revenue. They will be forced to issue new bonds in the near
future to cover the cost of the repairs.
In addition to conducting public meetings, the committee also
discussed using local media sources such as newspaper, radio and
television to get their message out, handing out fliers and
brochures, addressing civic organizations and clubs, and the
possibility of a door-to-door campaign where they will call on
registered voters one at a time, seeking support.
In closing, it should be noted the school cooperation committee
is a group of volunteers interested in improving the quality of
education in Logan County. They are not paid for their time nor do
they use school funds to achieve their goals.
[By NILA SMITH]
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