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Schools

District 26 'Scared to Bounce Payroll Checks'

Elementary district officials will ask voters for more cash in Nov. 2 referendum question.

Cary Elementary School District 26 will ask voters to approve a property tax hike in the November election to restore the district's cash flow and avoid a takeover by the Illinois State Board of Education.

The district has already made major cuts, including closing one school and laying off teachers, but it isn't enough, said T. Ferrier, the director of finance and operations for District 26.

"It's as if we've maxed-out on our credit cards," T. Ferrier said. "Every day I come to work and have to see if there is enough money in the bank. I'm scared we're going to bounce payroll checks."

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When voters go to the polls Nov. 2, they will see a referendum question on the ballot asking permission to issue $15 million in working-cash bonds, which will be paid back at a yet-to-be-determined interest rate that depends on market conditions.

For the owner of a $280,000 home, voting yes on the referendum would mean paying about $15 more per year for the next five years. That same homeowner already pays about $2,300 per year to the elementary school district in Cary—more than a third of his or her property tax bill, according to McHenry County tax records.

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Still, voters haven't been too willing to approve hikes in the past. The last time voters approved a District 26 referendum was 10 years ago. In 2004, a bid to hike the education rate failed, and a bid to sell working-cash bonds failed last year.

The board cut $6.6 million from this year's budget by closing Maplewood School, freezing administrator salaries, reducing bus driver salaries by 5 percent and laying off more than 70 teachers, or about one-third of the teaching staff.

The spending cuts balanced District 26's budget this year for the first time since 2002.

The Illinois State Board of Education could seize control of the Cary school district if the district is unable to pay its bills.

Matt Vanover, a spokesman for the state board of education, said that the state has been watching District 26 closely and thus far is satisfied with the actions District 26 has been making to remain solvent. 

He said in the past decade eight school districts needed the state's help with "financial oversight."  Most of those school districts were downstate.

School board members have been entertaining the need for many different kinds of measures to save money. Earlier this year, board members asked Superintendent Brian Coleman to find out if High School District 155 and Prairie Grove Elementary School District 46  would consider merging with the Cary elementary school district to pool resources. Those districts declined.

District 26 will host a series of informational meetings for voters on the referendum at the following times and locations:

  •  7 p.m., Oct. 5, at Three Oaks School
  • 7 p.m., Oct. 6, at Briargate School
  •  7 p.m., Oct. 7, at Deer Path School
  • 7 p.m., Oct. 13, at Prairie Hill School
  • 7 p.m. Oct. 14, at Cary Junior High School

 

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