District 308 Bond Sale Approved

The April election sent a message to the board that voters had no appetite for a planned third high school.

But with overcrowding on the horizon at both and high schools, newly elected board members knew something had to be done before the ability to sell bonds to fund a solution ran out on Nov. 6. Board members put the final touches on that solution Monday night as they approved 7-0 the sale of about $53 million in new construction bonds to fund additions at the high schools. 

The additions will mean the owner of a home in the district valued at $200,000 will pay about $71 more to the district in fiscal 2013.

“I’ve had people on the phone with me for an hour who have said, ‘We can’t afford more in taxes.’ ” Board President Bill Walsh said after the vote. “I understand that, and I know we’ve done our due diligence on these additions and the tax increase is about half of what it would have been if we built a third high school.”

The cost of the additions has been pegged at about $54 million, and the district has approved about $8 million in other capital improvement projects, including a new $2.3 million operations and maintenance facility approved Monday night. The district still has about $11 million in Build American bonds sold in 2010 to be used for the additional projects.

Board member Brent Lightfoot, , again voted no on the expenditure. He has said the district is asking enough in the way of more taxes from taxpayers without the additional projects.

The vote on the operations and maintenance facility was delayed last week after board members said they wished to tour the facility to get a better idea of the real need.

Board member Mike Scaramuzzi said he went through facility located off Route 71 near Wolfs Crossing over the weekend and found unacceptable conditions, including expensive district property stored outdoors and computer terminals within 15 feet of overhead garage doors where workers and equipment could be susceptible to vehicle exhaust and outdoor elements.