Tax Cap Makes Referendum Necessary, Vote 'Yes': Letter

HINSDALE, IL - Linda Burke, of Hinsdale, sent the Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Patch the following letter in support of a proposed a $139,815,893 referendum that will be on the April 2 ballot for voters in Hinsdale Township High School District 86.

D86 referendum: “yes” vote is the right choice—tax cap makes referendums necessary

Referendum opponents and even some supporters have been seeking to assign blame for the facilities crisis at Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central. Who got us into this mess? What really happened? Why do we need this facilities referendum now?

Almost without exception, there is no blame to be assigned. The reason most public school districts eventually go to referendum is the tax cap, which limits yearly tax increases to the CPI and an allowance for new growth, i.e. new construction, or five percent, whichever is lower.

The tax cap was actually designed to make all but the most basic upgrades impossible without the occasional referendum. Historically, our District 86 leadership has used careful planning to make necessary improvements within the constraints of the tax cap, calling for no referendum between 1971 and 2017. This feat deserves our respect. Now, at last, we do need a referendum—along with many of our peer districts, including New Trier, Downers Grove, Park Ridge, and Elmhurst. If we are somehow to blame, we have a lot of good company!

With 20-20 hindsight, you could say we should have prioritized infrastructure upgrades over academics and sports facilities, but the fact is, under the tax cap we couldn’t do it all.

Our high schools have maintained our all-round tradition of excellence while making the best of our obsolete physical facilities for as long as we possibly could. Much of our infrastructure is over 50 years old. It is fair and it is time to vote “Yes.”

Linda Burke, Hinsdale