School District 207 to Ask for 4.2% More in Property Taxes
Voice your opinion Dec. 3. One board member voted no, saying it's not needed; others said the district should put aside money in preparation for big expenditures coming due--especially teacher pensions.
Photos
Maine Township High School District 207 will ask residents for about $109 million next year.
That's an increase of 4.19 percent from the amount the district collected in 2012, according to the proposed levy the school board approved Nov. 5.
The board voted 5-1 to approve the proposed tax levy – the amount the district will ask Cook County to collect on its behalf. It will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 before taking a final vote on the levy.
The sole no vote came from school board member Edward Mueller.
“I’ve voted consistently no for any tax increase for about two years, maybe a little longer,” Mueller said. “This seems higher than what we’ve approved in the last couple of years. I think we’re going in the wrong direction.”
Earlier: Last year, District 207 asked for a 3.4 percent increase
But board member Eldon Burk said the district has no choice but to ask for as much tax money as it's entitled to, given that the Illinois legislature is considering pushing responsibility for teacher pension payments back to local school districts, creating a massive financial liability for the districts.
“There’s so much uncertainty about expenses that probably will be pushed back to us, we have to do this now,” said Burk, who is on the finance committee with Mueller and board member Eric Leys.
park
Leys emphasized that the committee had forwarded the proposed levy to the school board without a recommendation of whether they should vote for it or not.
Leys said he agrees with Mueller’s reluctance to add to the tax burden of local homeowners, but said that with the pension situation and the district’s upcoming capital improvement needs, he was voting “reluctantly yes.”
Superintendent Ken Wallace pointed out that the increase in the levy is higher than usual because it is capturing newly available tax revenue from the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines.
A memo to the board from Kalou said that the district probably won’t be able to get the entire 4.19 percent increase because of the state tax cap. Under Kalou’s most likely scenario, the district should expect $108.6 million, or a 3.69 percent increase.
District 207 includes Maine East and Maine South high schools in Park Ridge and Maine West High School in Des Plaines.
In This article
-
-
Maine East High School
2601 Dempster St, Park Ridge, IL -
Maine Township High School South
1111 S Dee Rd, Park Ridge, IL -
Maine West High School
1755 S Wolf Rd, Des Plaines, IL
Hawk
12:27 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Enough is enough. Our teachers are the highest paid in the state. Stop bleeding us
Finn
1:42 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
They are the highest paid because the district messed up the budget, the union refused to open its contract and so the district fired all new teachers thus raising the average teacher pay. Stop being a victim and move out of the district.
Quagmire
5:23 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
This is B.S. enough is enough. Get your money and fleece someone else not the property owners especially the ones that do not even have school aged children.
Quagmire
5:29 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Do all the board members even live in Park Ridge? Park Ridge is getting Whole Foods shouldn't that help without milking the residents?! Can't believe they did not want Mariano's. Start stopping speeders on Prospect between Oakton & Touhy, in one year they should have alot of revenue because hardly anyone oes the 25MPH speed limit. Where are the Police we pay for?
Quagmire
5:31 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
What did Donald Trump call for...? REVOLUTION !!!
Jon Stone
7:32 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Get rid of all the illegals in 207 that should take care of the problem 10 fold!
Terri P
11:42 am on Friday, November 9, 2012
Rivers Casino Clears $30-Million-Plus in 14 of 16 Months - This should cover it
There will be no more property owners in 207 if this continues
xiaoyang
6:16 am on Monday, November 12, 2012
Unlike the big offshore-based http://www.coachoutletonlinexc.net/ Coach Factory Outlet names, domestic players, and anyone operating a China-based service for that matter, must follow Beijing's http://www.louisvuittonoutletam.net/ Louis Vuitton Purses strict self-censorship rules and immediately remove any content banned by central propaganda officials or http://www.coachoutletstoreze.com/ Coach Factory Outlet risk big fines and even closure.The homegrown Chinese services have had to walk a difficult tightrope as http://www.guccibeltsoutletds.net/ Gucci Belts they tried to build commercial services while waiting for Beijing to take a clear stance on how much it was willing to http://www.coachfactoryonlinefn.net/ Coach Factory Outlet tolerate in the world of online public debate.Beijing initially took a line of relative tolerance, only to http://www.coachfactoryonlineae.com/ Coach Factory Outlet slam on the brakes periodically when angry debate started getting out of control during discussion of http://www.coachoutletb1.com/ Coach Factory Online sensitive topics like the high-speed rail crash in Zhejiang province last year that left more than 30 dead and 200 http://www.coachoutlethcs.com/ Coach Outlet Online injured.Beijing's growing unease with the situation came to a head in late 2011
Quagmire
8:59 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Keep this spam out of this forum!!!!!!!!!
Finn
11:03 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Demand a property tax cut. Join the board and force the union to have their pay cut in half. Move out of the district. Don't be a victim. BTW if the schools go to pot so do property values.
Quagmire
9:12 am on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Like property values have not gone to pot as it is.....?
Quagmire
9:15 am on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Find other ways to extract money, not always on the property owners. How about if the police actually enforced the speed limit on North Prospect. In one day they would have thousands of speeders. On one day!!! times 7 days a week ( a little less on Sunday) Where are they? I never see them. Occasionally in the may years I have been there I have seen a police car parked watching stop sign blowers but never speeders.
741xiaohui
12:05 am on Saturday, November 17, 2012
http://www.coachfactoryoutletonlinebc.org Coach Outlet
http://www.coachoutletod.com Coach Outlet Store Online
http://www.coachfactoryoutletbo.net Coach Factory Online
http://www.coachoutletpn.com Coach Outlet
http://www.coachfactorystoredo.com Coach Purse Outlet Online
http://www.coachoutletos.org Coach Outlet Online
http://www.coachoutletstorefb.com Coach Bags Outlet Online
http://www.coachoutletstoreonlinert.com Coach Handbags Outlet
http://www.coachoutletonlinelc.net Coach Outlet Factory
http://www.coachoutletonlinelon.com Coach Factory Outlet
http://www.coachoutletonlinelsa.com Coach Factory Outlet
http://www.coachoutletdt.net Coach Factory Store
http://www.coachoutletonlinebd.com Coach Outlet Online
http://www.coachoutletstoreps.com Coach Outlet Store Online
Robert Peterson
12:53 am on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
When any organization trims the staff who are making the least amount of money, and then doesn't replace them, of course the average salary goes up. If people ever hope to have value return to their homes, they had better start getting their heads on right: taxes to schools are an investment in their property ... if the schools go bad, people in District 207 will have to start paying people to move in. People move in to D207 because of the schools, so if you one day ever hope to sell your property, you had better keep the schools in good shape. Like the businessmen say: you get what you pay for. Most of the fellow parents I talk to feel Maine does a great job with the kids, despite what a few malcontents will bellow about.
Finn is absolutely right ... the district accountant dropped the ball, and forced the school into budget cuts. The union was asked to give up money for someone else's mistake. How many of you would >>willingly<< hand over money for a mistake someone else made? Place the blame where it is due. The teachers are not to blame about this one.
Quagmire
6:09 am on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
While alot of what you say holds true, look at Chicago, CPS wants more and more & the property owners are getting raised all the time and Chicago property is going nowhere.....
Quagmire
6:11 am on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
This 4.2% on the teachers/school portion of the tax bill not the entire bill correct?
Quagmire
6:13 am on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
And I still say:if the police actually enforced the speed limit on North Prospect. In one day they would have thousands of speeders. All in one day!!! times 7 days a week ( a little less on Sunday) Where are they? I never see them. Occasionally in the may years I have been there I have seen a police car parked watching stop sign blowers but never speeders.