DARIEN, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 officials appear ready to approve $82 million in debt next month, meaning a property tax hike for residents.
About $35 million of the debt will go toward what are known as "life safety" projects. About half of that is for a new heating plant at Hinsdale Central.
For the rest of the debt – $47 million – the district has flexibility on how to spend it. It has presented a list of possible projects, many of them for athletics, but nothing is certain.
The expected property tax increase is $83 for a median-valued house, which is nearly $570,000. The amount would rise $10 annually.
In 2019, district voters approved borrowing $140 million for projects at Central and South high schools. A year earlier, voters rejected going $166 million into debt.
A couple of months ago, officials started talking about debt again. The board's finance committee typically vets such ideas, but it has canceled its last three meetings and hasn't met since early June. That was around the time Superintendent Chip Pettit took the helm.
At Tuesday's school board meeting, member Liz Mitha asked about the list of possible projects.
"I think there is a bit of confusion in the community that this list is definitely going to happen," she said.
Pettit said the district couldn't afford all the work on the list. He said the board will identify projects that it considers priorities.
Board member Bobby Fischer said the district's buildings are "objectively behind where they should be," the reason to go into debt.
"We're not keeping up," he said.
Residents have until Monday to put together a petition to force the district to put the debt issue on the ballot. There's no word of such an effort.
The board is set to vote on the debt at its Nov. 17 meeting.
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