Mokena schools seek tax hike
MOKENA -- After years of exhaustive planning for a tax increase request, Mokena School District filed the referendum question last week for the February ballot.
Officials will be ask residents to support a rate increase of 48 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation, school board president Tim King said. The increase would mean an extra $400 a year annually in taxes for the owner of a $250,000 home.
"This is to pay the teachers, pay for the buildings, all the things needed to keep the doors open," King said.
A plunge in state aid has caused most of the district's budget woes, according to officials. State dollars used to make up about 50 percent of the budget, but that figure has dropped to about 10 percent today, King said.
Declining enrollment and rising special-education costs also have chipped away at the district's bottom line.
"We have increasing costs and decreasing income. That is not a good recipe," King said.
Spending already has been "cut to the bone," Superintendent Karen Perry said, pointing to the district's spending per pupil. In 2008, Mokena spent $7,164.55 per student, one of the lowest rates among elementary school districts in the greater Chicago area.
Though district officials don't relish the thought of asking for money during an economic downturn, they say they can't hold out much longer.
"We know the timing is terrible," Perry said. "We need this referendum in order to keep our programs. No one's getting pay raises or anything like that. ... Our goal is just to be able to keep our kids competitive with other kids going into Lincoln-Way (High School District)."
"So many people move here for the schools. If you have a really good, productive school district, it's good for property tax values," King said. "This (referendum) is really important for the entire community."
