I'm getting approached by neighbors who support the referendum telling me 'Your taxes won't go up with the referendum'. That line makes me very suspicious. If the referendum doesn't pass, will my taxes go down?

That line, if it is indeed being used, was the battle cry of the Park District during its last run for money.

I specifically brought up the fact that even though the amount you are paying is not going up, the fact that you are paying something rather than not paying something is an increase in taxes. Nonetheless, people feel comfortable with the "your payments will not go up" line. These are probably the same kind of people that lease cars when they cannot write them off.

In a word - yes, your taxes would go down as a bond is expiring. The referendum would purchase a new bond for capital improvements at the same RATE per $1000 of assessed valuation as the one that is expiring.

So in a way, your taxes would go up, because they are scheduled to go down, everything else being equal.

Correct. A much more honest way to look at it is that your taxes won't go down. Unfortunately, that doesn't sell well.

Infrastructure needs updating, maintaining, etc. I'd have a hard time voting against the concept of this ref. Admittedly, I have not looked at it too hard. Not sure what the amounts are going for.

From the Daily Herald of 1/29: The paper endorses a "yes" vote, but a former board member explains why he'll vote "no."

It’s hard to think about air conditioning on weather days like we have had recently, but the D89 referendum has created a certain buzz about it.

Personally, it’s not about the little darlings’ comfort for me. Let 'em sweat.

Replacing boilers today virtually includes an integrated system for AC. If we are shelling out necessary boiler-replacement dollars, the greatest operational efficiency out of the investment should be expected.

And some 22% of D89 kids have allergies or asthma issues.

And there are numerous studies that show the positive effects of AC on learning.

But all of this, imho, pales in comparison to safety. Most of us lived our school years without ac and came out just fine. But either the world is a different place today or we were blissfully ignorant... Sexual predators live in surprisingly close proximity to all of our schools in Glen Ellyn. "Incidents" are often reported. School "lockdowns" happen with some regularity. Were schools ever locked down when most of us were kids?

Should we be alarmed? No. Scared? Certainly not, as no one, to my knowledge, has been hurt. But who wants to be the first?

In my numerous conversations with the leaders of D89, I SOOOOO wanted to point out that ac was a frivolous request. After research, I can not do so with good conscious.

Here's the text of Police Chief Phil Norton's address to the D89 board from fall of last year:


President Gaspar, School Board Trustees, thank you for the opportunity to speak before you tonight on the subject of school safety.

On any given school day in Glen Ellyn, the police department is charged with the safety of over 7,600 school children attending a high school, two middle schools, 5 public elementary schools and two catholic elementary schools. This is a responsibility which we take very seriously. I am confident that as School Board members and parents, you share our goal of a safe learning environment for all kids in our schools. As I am sure you are aware, studies have shown that a student is better prepared to learn in a safe and secure atmosphere.

Unfortunately, in today’s world, children in schools have become targets of violence by deranged individuals including some parents, other school children, and those who we used to call strangers and now call terrorists.
Schools and law enforcement have been working together for years to help create the safest campuses as practical. We have presented training classes, performed table-top exercises, consulted on certain safety measures and have increased our presence in and around schools during schools hours. We have conducted training in various schools to promote officer familiarization and have practiced lockdown drills.

One area where we still struggle to achieve the safest or desired level of security are those schools, that due to a lack of air conditioning prop open exterior doors to create air flow and relieve heat issues. As a parent, I have attended a number of events at Park View School including parent-teacher open houses in the fall, and many late-spring programs in the gyms, where the temperature in the school becomes quite uncomfortable. During the day in warmer weather, the door has been observed to be propped open for the same reasons, as activity in the gyms can cause the rooms to become somewhat “overheated”.

The safest schools are those schools that are locked during school hours preventing intrusion by unwelcome visitors. In the past we have had occurrences of unauthorized people illegally entering schools or loitering on school grounds. The police department treats each of these occurrences very seriously assists in their prosecution to the fullest extent the law allows. However, we must be careful to not invite such events to transpire again.

I have enjoyed working with Superintendent John Perdue on various safety issues and I believe our work together continues to improve school safety. I ask that you strongly consider carrying on our progress by making the schools capable of keeping their doors locked during school hours, while maintaining a comfortable learning environment.

I thank you for your valuable time this evening and would be happy to answer any questions you have.

--Phil Norton, Glen Ellyn Police Chief

I will be voting yes on this referendum. Here’s my reasons.

A. Our taxes are not going up. I recognize the fact that if the referendum fails our taxes will go down. In the example they site, for a $300K house the 2009 taxes would go down by $127.

B. The only part of the ref that might be considered “discretionary” is the A/C. Everything else is infrastructure and life safety. So if it doesn’t pass now, they’ll have to put it up again in the fall.

C. The A/C is 19% ($4.7 mil) of the ref. In their $300K house example, this represents $24/year of the $127. I’ve been to Parkview and Glen Crest for events (eg. Fun Fair, concerts, etc) and the heat can be downright miserable. Yes, I believe it makes for a more conducive learning environment; No I don’t believe it is absolutely necessary, and can certainly give you a “back in my day…” story. But for me, $24 bucks a year is well worth it.

D. I believe D89 has demonstrated fiscal responsibility. Everything is relative, so being in the same town as D41 might make the contrast more than it really is. But I think the board and the administration have done a good job. One measure might be checking the D89 posts on this message board. Generally they are few, far between, and boring.

Here’s the district link for ref info. I think they’ve done a pretty good job at explaining everything.

http://www.ccsd89.org/index.php?option=com_content&task...ory&id=45&Itemid=191