By Chris Fox
For The Elmhurst Independent
A meeting of the Board of School District 205 held on Tuesday, Dec. 15, Chris Whelton, the district’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, offered a presentation regarding the 2020 property tax levy for taxes to be paid in 2021. Whelton noted that property taxes account for about 85 percent of the district’s revenues. He added that salaries account for about 68 percent of the district’s expenditures, while benefits account for approximately 12 percent of expenditures.
Whelton said that under the 2020 levy, and without abatement, the District 205 portion of the annual property tax bill for a district homeowner with a home valued at $500,000 would rise 2.5 percent, or about $180, over the previous year. With abatement, the owner of that same home would not have any increase. Later in the meeting, the board unanimously approved a tax abatement resolution that authorized the abatement of nearly $3.18 million. That money will be transferred from the district’s working cash fund to its debt service fund to pay debt service on previously issued bonds. The board approved the abatement to flatten the District 205 portion of the property tax bill for existing taxpayers, many of whom have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Waiting till Nov. to issue bonds saved taxpayers $250G
The Dec. 15 meeting also included a presentation regarding the district’s recent bond issuance of $40 million. The $40 million bond sale, which took place last month, is related to the successful $168.5 million referendum approved by voters in November 2018. The district issued the first $60 million in bonds related to that referendum in July 2019. There will be two more bond issues to complete the total amount of $168.5 million.
The $40 million in bonds, which were issued on Nov. 16, 2020, will mature between 2035 and 2028. Elizabeth Hennessy, a managing director with Raymond James, is the district’s bond consultant. She spoke during the meeting and noted that the bonds were issued with true interest costs of 2.52 percent. Board member Jim Collins mentioned that the district could have issued the bonds in October, but decided to wait until November, when interest rates were more favorable for the district. Collins said that waiting that extra month to issue the bonds helped to save district taxpayers more than $250,000 in interest payments over the life of the bonds.
Upcoming capital projects
The meeting also included a presentation about the district’s capital projects scheduled for the summer of 2021. Todd Schmidt, the district’s director of buildings and grounds, delivered the presentation. He noted that the district has about $6 million in capital projects scheduled for the upcoming summer. Those projects include: roof replacement in the area of York High School’s south gymnasium ($1.5 million), replacement of the boiler of York’s swimming pool ($450,000), replacement of the York pool locker room ($350,000), the installation of field turf in the storm water detention are in front of York, in conjunction with the City of Elmhurst’s stormwater project beneath the field ($900,000), and the project that includes the paving of the gravel lot outside of Bryan Middle School ($1.589 million).
The athletic field with the synthetic turf will be installed in the open space north of the entrance to the York campus. District 205 will pay for the turf field. The City of Elmhurst will install underground stormwater tanks under the field. The new field will be large enough for practices and competitions in multiple sports, including lacrosse and soccer.
Bryan project criticized by Collins; a mistake we would regret ‘for decades’
Collins, who criticized the project to pave the gravel lot outside of Bryan Middle School in a previous meeting, said during the Dec. 15 meeting that it would be a foolish investment to spend $1.589 million for the project. The lot serves as a storage area for District 205 vehicles and equipment. The project to pave it was originally scheduled to take place during the summer of 2020. Collins referred to the lot as an eyesore. He said following through with the project would be a mistake that the board would regret for decades.
The project to pave the lot also calls for stormwater detention (an underwater vault) to be placed in the area. The district and the City of Elmhurst have an intergovernmental agreement regarding the area. According to the agreement, the district has to replace the gravel lot by the end of the summer of 2021. The project also includes extensive landscaping. Collins and board member Christopher Kocinski urged the district to explore better solutions. District 205 Superintendent David Moyer said the district doesn’t have any better options. The city reportedly does not have an available location for the district to store its equipment; if it did, the district would have to pay to lease the space.
