By Chris Fox
For The Elmhurst Independent
The Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 Board held a regular meeting on Tuesday, June 15 at the District 205 Center, 162 S. York St. All seven board members attended the meeting.
The meeting included a presentation about the district’s master facilities plan. The district’s interim superintendent—Dr. Linda Yonke—noted that the district is at critical points in the design processes of the improvements at both Field Elementary School and Conrad Fischer Elementary School. The district sought guidance from the board on proceeding with design concepts for the improvements to those two schools.
Bond sales reduce tax impact on homeowners
Yonke referred to the $168.5 million referendum that district voters approved in November 2018 to pay for improvements at the district’s facilities. She noted that the tax impact of that referendum was estimated to be an additional $150 per year for the owner of a home valued at $500,000. After the district recently sold referendum-related bonds at favorable interest rates, the tax impact for the owner of a home of that value is now estimated at just $4 per year.
Board member Jim Collins noted that the district took advantage of disruptions in financial markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the district accelerated its referendum-related financing. He said the additional tax impact of the referendum—now estimated at $4 per year for the owner of a home valued at $500,000, applies over a 25-year period. He said the tax impact from the referendum is set to go up for a few years before going down, then leveling off for several years.
Yonke noted that the district had more than $38 million in reserves as of May 31, 2021. That date represented an annual low point in the district’s reserves, she said. The figure of about $38 million was about 27.5 percent of the district’s annual budget, Yonke said.
As of Saturday, June 5, the district had reportedly completed about $13.5 million worth of projects related to the $168.5 million referendum. About $56.5 million worth of referendum projects are in progress, according to the district, with bids awarded and costs fairly certain.
About $65.5 million of referendum-related projects are in design, and approximately $41.7 million in referendum-related projects fall in the category of work to complete. About $70 million in referendum-related work is either completed or in progress, while about $107 million in referendum-related projects is in design or work to be completed. The total amount of the referendum-related projects is about $177.2 million, or approximately $8.7 million (about 5.2 percent) over the referendum budget.
The district initially budgeted $29 million in referendum funds to spend on improvements at Field Elementary School. The cost of those improvements has grown to about $33.85 million. The district planned to spend about $5.7 million in referendum funds at Fischer Elementary School, but those improvements are now estimated to cost approximately $8 million. The referendum-related renovations at Jackson Elementary School were originally supposed to cost about $5.5 million, but now estimated to cost about $7.5 million.
Board member Christopher Kocinski stated that in no way will the additional costs for the projects lead to an increase in taxes. He stressed that the district has money in its reserves.
Proceeding with Field School
The district provided options for proceeding with design plans at Field Elementary School. Those options included adding three additional classrooms, as well as the option of adding six additional classrooms and making the school a four-section school instead of a three-section building. The board directed district staff to proceed with the design of a four-section building. That design would could push the total cost of the improvement project at the school to $37 million. Board members said the four-section design would make more sense and give the district more flexibility in the future. Board members also deemed the additional expense for the four-section design as a sensible investment in a school that should serve the community for several decades to come.
Considering options for design plans at Fischer Elementary School, the board directed district staff to obtain bid options to learn how much alternate projects would cost.
The presentation also noted that referendum-related work at Jackson Elementary School was initially supposed to cost about $6.8 million. The district has already spent about $1.4 million of that amount. An alternate plan to add 2,100 square feet of new construction could add about $800,000 to the improvement costs at the school.
As board members discussed the increased costs that have added about $8 million to projects related to the $168.5 million referendum, Collins stated that the district could just sit on taxpayers’ money, or could invest it, making the area more attractive and increasing property values. Kocinski added that the district built its reserves for a reason, and that those reserves provided flexibility to cover the additional expenses of referendum-related projects.
