Western Springs D-101 May Seek Tax Hike: Official

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Nearly 90 percent of Illinois' school districts are considered at the top financial level, meaning they require little or no review from the state.

Western Springs School District 101, however, is one level below, labeled "review." At some point, the district is likely to seek a small tax increase, an official says.

Statewide, 74 of the state's 851 districts are in the "review" category. Twenty-eight districts are in the two lowest levels – "financial early warning" and "financial watch."

For "review" status, the Illinois School Board of Education monitors a district for potential downward trends.

Most area districts are in the top category, labeled "recognition." Among the exceptions are Elmhurst School District 205, Center Cass School District 66 and Maercker School District 60, which all have "review" status.

In an email to Patch, Western Springs Superintendent Brian Barnhart said he expected the district to advance to "recognition" status next year.

The last Western Springs school referendum was in 2003. In 2013, the district undertook $15 million in building additions and renovations at all four schools, Barnhart said.

For that work, the district did not go to voters to seek a tax increase. Rather, it paid back the debt for the projects by dipping into the operations budget, Barnhart said.

"That has been exactly what we have done over the past nine years," Barnhart said. "It is very likely – and we also announced this back in 2013 - that we will need to put a small rate increase referendum before our voters relatively soon, and we have referenced that for two years now at our annual budget and levy hearings."

Although the district expects to achieve "recognition" status next year, Barnhart said the district may return to "review" a year after that.

"A successful referendum should place us firmly into Recognition for several years to follow," Barnhart said in his email.