METAMORA, Ill. – The head of the Metamora Grade School district says he is “thrilled” with the passage of a tax rate increase referendum in Tuesday’s elections.
Voters in the school district were asked to increase the maximum annual tax rate 52% to a rate of 2.31%. The referendum passed with 70% voting ‘yes’.
Dr. Ben Lee the voter turnout was “humbling and encouraging” to see, and credits a “team effort” in getting it passed.
“We had a lot of people working to advance the cause and to spread the word, and educate the public to explain the root issue, and couldn’t be happier with the results,” Lee said.
Lee says the district was in a situation where it could not do many more cuts without affecting the quality of education. He says in the past three years, 10% of staff had to be eliminated, along with cost saving reductions in items such as bus routes.
Lee adds that the district was about 30% short in being able to raise the needed funds each year to operate.
If the full amount of the tax rate increase was implemented, it would generate about an additional $1.4 million per year for the district. Lee says without the extra revenue generated, extracurricular activities and further staff cuts could have occurred.
Lee says it’s not automatic that the school board will raise taxes to the full amount right away.
“If anything, we will have a phase-in approach, and only, depending on what the state does or does not provide, that will determine if we inch up a little bit of that new maximum rate or not,” Lee said.
Lee says the district still has some debt to pay off and will keep taxes as level as possible until debt relief comes.
Comments