By Andy Dahn
BLOOMINGTON – A potential property tax freeze and shift of pension costs in Springfield has District 87 officials planning ahead, which may come at the expense of local taxpayers.
Superintendent Barry Reilly didn’t sugarcoat the reality behind Wednesday night’s approval of a resolution that would increase the district’s working cash fund.
“It is an increase in the tax rate,” Reilly said. “There is no getting around that.”
Reilly expects that increase to be about 10 cents for District 87 taxpayers. He said the looming changes at the state level mean more reliance on local revenues.
“That’s unfortunate,” said Reilly. “The state has an obligation to pay at least half of the cost. They haven’t done that for years and it’s only decreasing over time. So to provide the same quality of education, you have to find ways to obtain revenue.”
Reilly said the proposed increase is to protect the district’s students and staff.
“It’s become clear that in order to do right by our kids and our community, we feel that we need to position ourselves to have an appropriate amount of revenue to deal with those potential things happening.”
The increase is strictly potential at this point. A public hearing and final vote in February will happen before anything is made official.
Reilly also mentioned Wednesday night that he hopes to see the Every Student Succeeds Act by signed into law, a bill he said would essentially make No Child Left Behind obsolete and put the power of education in the right hands.
“I think we’re seeing a shift to more local control, and I see that as a very good thing,” Reilly said. “Your local boards of education and staff are much more in tune with what the needs of your kids are than somebody sitting in Washington or even somebody in Springfield.”
The bill was approved by the Senate Wednesday and is now awaiting President Obama’s approval.
Andy Dahn can be reached at andy.dahn@cumulus.com.
