District 153 finally received the dollar figures from Cook County for the referendum the voters approved in November of 2022. Unfortunately, the referendum did not come close to generating the revenue that we had predicted.

Here's a brief explanation:

When the school board approved the referendum question, District 153 had an Equalized Assessed Value (EAV) of $348,224,197 and a tax rate of $4.41. District 153 Administration recommended a $1.20 increase on the tax rate, which would bring the new value to $5.61. Applying this increase to the EAV at that time would have generated around $4 million in new operating revenue. The additional $4 million would have eliminated our structural deficits for the foreseeable future, provided funds to build cash reserves and paid for maintenance needed at all three schools.

The referendum was approved by the voters on November 8, 2022 with over 70 percent of the vote. On November 16, 2022, Cook County released the 2021 Tax Rate Report for the 2021 tax levy. We were shocked to learn that our EAV dropped by almost $25 million to $323,322,108. The District would not know what the referendum would ultimately generate until Cook County determined EAV for the 2022 tax levy. The estimate released by Cook County a few days ago has EAV dropping almost an additional $6 million more in 2022 to $317,429,691. The estimate from Cook County means that the referendum will only generate approximately $2,135,554 in new operating revenue. This outcome is significantly less than the $4 million we anticipated.

There was no way anyone could have predicted that EAV would drop by almost 9% from when the ballot question was approved to when the rate increase would take effect. According to the Bloom Township Treasurer’s Office, this is an unprecedented drop in EAV. We are the victim of incredibly unlucky timing of a drop in EAV combined with legislation that required us to pose the ballot question as a tax rate increase (which is subject to the variances of EAV) versus simply asking voters to approve a set dollar amount, which would not change as EAV fluctuates.

Needless to say, we are all incredibly disappointed by this outcome. The amount of work put forth and the support of the community did not bring about the outcome we thought we had achieved. Nonetheless, please know that we will continue to do all we can to provide the highest level education for our students. We have been down this road before, and we will persevere.

The school board and administration will be looking at the details of this outcome in the coming weeks and months and making plans accordingly. In the meantime take assurance that despite our disappointment, we are still $2 million dollars better off than we would have been without the referendum. This is something to celebrate.

We will keep you updated as we learn more.