Homewood Residents Approve $9 million in Bonds for District 153

Homewood residents have voted in favor of District 153 issuing $9 million in bonds to beef up its working cash funds.

With 17 of 18 precincts reporting as of 9:41 p.m., unofficial totals show 4,861 in favor of the move; 1,184 voted against.

The district turns to voters after multiple years running on a deficit—including a $2.5 million for its current year. A referendum passed by voters in 2011 allowed the school district to borrow funds that have bridged the gap between district revenues and expenditures allowing the school district to maintain the same levels of services and programs for students. District administrators said they expect to deplete those funds within two years.

The referendum asked specifically:

Shall the Board of Education of Homewood School District Number 153, Cook County, Illinois be authorized to issue $9,000,000 bonds for a working cash fund as provided by Article 20 of the School Code?

Taxpayers will make payments on the loan for eight years. The added assessment automatically expires when the loan is paid off. For every $150,000 of property value, taxes will increase by about $100 per year for two years and then will go back down to what is being paid now for six years. The payments would run for a total of eight years. The current payment is about $200 for a property value of $150,000.

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