Five Reasons To Oppose The Winthrop Harbor Referendum

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Five Reasons To Oppose The Winthrop Harbor
Referendum

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Citizens for Reasonable And Fair
Taxes www.noreferendum.org
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1. Voters have rejected the same tax increase
twice in less than twelve months!
School boards and school districts exist to serve
the wishes of their constituents, NOT to pressure
them into a tax increase theyve already rejected!
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Repeatedly running the same referendum is an
abuse of election law enabling passage of an
unwanted tax increase.
15
28
39
48
56
62
NO
NO
NO
NO
NO
YE
A referendum with a 15 chance of passing has a
62 chance of passing if run six times!

• McHenry D-15 is running its 6th consecutive
  referendum in 2006!
• Harvard D-50 is considering its 8th consecutive
  referendum in 2006!
• Low turnout generally improves chances of passing
  a referendum.

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2. Stealth referendum is unethicalYou cant
spell Stealth without Steal

• In February 2003, Carpentersville D-300 ran a
  special referendum, pledged to run again in
  April if it failed. Referendum was defeated by
  more than 3-to-1.
• Harvard pro-referendum group instructed staff not
  to discuss referendum openly. Called this their
  stealth plan.
• Emergency? A successful October referendum does
  not provide tax dollars any earlier than an April
  referendum. (May affect borrowing).
• There is currently no teachers contract!

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3. More money wont help

• I am hoping we can agree to postpone
  negotiations until after the elections
• - Sue Murphy, D-36
• HTA member Leonor Mersch said everyone was
  hopeful the referendum passes, and said salaries
  and insurance would matter during negotiations.
• - NW Herald
• As soon as everybody hears about (the projected
  surplus), they try to divide up where the money's
  going to go.
• Rockford School Board President Nancy
  Kalchbrenner
• (Orland D-135 Union president Deneen Pajeau)
  said the amount of raises during the final three
  years of the contract will hinge on whether the
  education fund rate increase referendum proposal
  is approved.

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More money wont help

• They understand that the district can afford to
  make us another offer.
• Collinsville Teacher Representative Stacey
  Soehlke
• There is no deficit, and they can make us a
  better offer
• - Allison Pyatt, Collinsville Middle School
  Science Teacher
• Now we just have to convince the people in town
  to look at the numbers the way teachers do.
• Ed Rosenthal, NUEA chief negotiator
• It's about us offering a certain amount and them
  wanting more, and you just can't give what you
  don't have
• - Sandi Johnson, Harlem School board president

Teachers unions base salary negotiations on how
much money the district has, not on teacher
performance or merit.
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More money doesnt mean better performance
If money were the only measure of success, we
would have tackled our K-12 problems a long time
ago with the 500 billion we spend annually at
the federal, state and local levels. Education
should not be a spending race. Rod Paige, U.S.
Secretary of Education, June 22, 2004
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Question How does District 1 compare to other
districts in terms of teachers and administrator
salaries?
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Answer Who Cares?
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4. Winthrop Harbor has been active in the
Education spending race.
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Another comparison D-1 doesnt want you to see
Private Schools
Sources NACST Lay Teachers Salary Survey D1
Teachers Contract

• Steps to reach maximum Archdiocese - 31, D1 -
  14.
• Credits Required Archdiocese - PhD, D1 - MS36.
• Archdiocese Elementary Tuition 800 - 5,680

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5. The referendum will cost much more than
theyre telling you.Introducing Huntleygate

• Spring 2004 55 referendum defeated.
• Watchdog group ridiculed for warning that
  referendum allows 1.22 tax increase.
• District runs again in Fall. Passes by lt1.
• Tax collectors confirm 1.22 figure. Public
  furious
• Finance manager admits he knew true cost, but
  chose not to inform public.
• Public demands for responsibility result in
  resignation of Superintendent and finance manager.

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How did it happen?
Property Assessment
Property Taxes Collected

X

• Tax rate falls because property assessments rise
  faster than CPI.
• District collects more money, not less!

Tax Rate
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How PTELL Affects D-1
Proposition to Increase Maximum Annual
Educational Tax Rate Shall the maximum annual
tax rate for educational purposes for Winthrop
Harbor School District Number 1, Lake County,
Illinois, be increased and established at 2.56
percent upon all the taxable property of said
School District at the value, as equalized or
assessed by the Department of Revenue, instead of
2.17 percent, the present maximum rate otherwise
applicable to the next taxes to be extended for
said purposes?
Establishes the Maximum Educational Tax Rate, NOT
the actual rate itself. Maximum Ed-Fund Tax Rate
2.17 Current Ed-Fund Tax Rate
1.736 Proposed Maximum Tax Rate 2.56 Increase
from Current to new Maximum 0.39 0.824!
?
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Think it cant happen here?

• Daily Herald surveyed 25 districts shortly after
  Huntleygate. Among the overtaxers
• Burlington CUSD-301
• Naperville District 203
• Glen Ellyn District 41
• Geneva District 204
• Prairie Grove District 46
• Wheeling Elementary District 21
• Libertyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128

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Theyll assure you its only 39 cents
Voters in these districts also received
assurances from their school and government
officials!

• The 82.4 figure, as well as a 782.80 example
  increase for a 300,000 home came directly from
  the Lake County Clerks Office.
• It has allowed for a misuse of the tax cap law.
  Certain taxing districts reaped a harvest of
  additional dollars in excess of what the voters
  approved.
• Wayne Wasylko, Lake County Director of Tax
  Extension
• State Representative Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake)
  introduced bill to force districts to tax
  according to how tax increases are sold to
  public.
• I do think its important that people know,
  taxpayers know, exactly what theyre asked to
  approve. Im pleased that this will be
  clarified.
• - Willard Helander, Lake County Clerk