Hinsdale District 86 Mulls Tax Hike For $39M In Projects

DARIEN, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 board members sounded supportive this week of a proposed property tax increase to pay for $39 million in building work at Central and South high schools.

The hike would cost the owner of a $570,000 house, the district's median, $83 more in taxes the first year, with an additional $10 added annually over the next decade, according to the district.

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This is on top of the usual inflationary increases in the district's annual property tax levy.

With the proposed tax increase, voter approval is not required. That's because the projects would fall under the "life safety" category, as long as the state approves.

In 2019, District 86 voters approved borrowing $140 million for projects at both Central and South high schools. Some of the bigger-ticket items were new pools.

Of the $39 million in life safety work, the most expensive is replacing Central's heating plant, costing an estimated $17 million.

This project has been talked about for years.

During a 2021 board meeting, Kevin Camden, the board's president at the time, said it was "more than an oops" that the boiler system wasn't included in the referendum.

"As a taxpayer, I would like to know how we got to this point in construction where suddenly in the second bid phase we got the oh-my-goodness moment that we didn't plan on fixing the physical plant with respect to steam or boiler or heating," Camden said at the time.

At Tuesday's board meeting, members noted that the proposed tax increase would amount to 1 percent of the overall tax bill. And the board's financial adviser said the district had the lowest tax bill of comparable school systems.

"With academics and support services and the way we support our students, D86 does a remarkable job," board President Catherine Greenspon said. "Our facilities do not reflect the job that we are doing for our kids."

If the district upgrades its buildings, she said, more young families will move to the district.

Board member Bobby Fischer agreed.

"We are an employer of choice. Rankings consistently show our teachers are among the top in the state," he said. "Their working environment is sometimes less than. And fixing the heating plant at Central will go a long way to addressing that gap."

The board voted unanimously to present the life safety projects to the state for approval.