Letter to Editor: Lemont HS Superintendent Thanks Legislators for Work

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Senator Mark Kirk and Senator Dick Durbin for their work on behalf of Lemont High School District 210 and other federally impacted school districts across the country.

Impact Aid offsets property tax revenue lost by school districts when the Federal Government owns property in the district. Argonne National Laboratory covers more than 3,500 acres of prime land located within our district’s boundaries. Because this land is owned by the Federal Government, it generates no property tax dollars to help support the school district. In short, the largest property owner in our community pays no real estate taxes.

We are very proud to host such a prestigious science facility in our community. However, affected school districts like ours must educate the same number of students, but with much less revenue, because the Federal Government does not pay taxes.

Senators Kirk and Durbin have made increasing, and continually securing, Impact Aid a top priority, and they continue to be advocates for the program in Congress. Impact Aid helps to ensure that students in communities such as ours have access to the best education possible.

The loss of Impact Aid funding for our district would result in either a cut in educational programs, services and personnel, or an additional undue tax burden on our taxpayers. Senators Kirk and Durbin have committed to supporting the position of the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS): as long as the Federal Government owns property in school districts, taxpayers should expect the Federal Government to pay its share of the bill.

On behalf of our Board of Education and the Lemont High School District 210 community, I extend my appreciation to Senator Kirk and Senator Durbin for their commitment to our students and hundreds of thousands of other federally impacted students across the country.

Dr. Mary Ticknor

Superintendent,

Lemont High School District 210