Guy Cahill, District 150 treasurer, is quoted in today’s Journal Star saying this: “Until we can demonstrate having our fiscal house in order, I think people would legitimately have a healthy skepticism of putting more money into our coffers.”
Bingo. That’s exactly how Peorians feel. If the district were to come up with a reasonable plan to put their fiscal house in order, I think they could get public buy-in and pass a referendum. But their current plan is pie-in-the-sky, and they know voters wouldn’t pass a tax increase to pay for it.
So, what to do? Why, go around the voters, of course! That’s why they wanted the state to pass a bill that would allow the school to get funding through the Public Building Commission (PBC) instead of having to ask voters. The only trouble is, the governor saw through their little ploy and put an amendatory veto on the bill. If his veto stands, the district would have to get voter approval to use PBC funds.
The governor has said that he doesn’t want the district to raise taxes without voter approval. The district doesn’t consider its proposal as a tax increase. The governor does, spokeswoman Becky Carroll said Thursday.
See, the school district is close to paying off some old bonds. Once they’re paid off, the tax levy that was financing them would expire. The district wants to keep that tax levy in place to pay for the new bonds. Thus, the district doesn’t consider its proposal a tax increase because, under their plan, the tax levy on the new bonds wouldn’t be any higher than the tax levy on the old bonds.
But do they really expect us to buy that logic? That’s like if I gave the district a credit card and said, “okay guys, I authorize you to spend $1,000. The bill will come to me, and I’ll pay $50 per month until it’s paid off.” Then, just about the time the debt is paid off, the district decides to charge another $1,000 — without my approval — and tell me it’s not costing me any more because I’ll still only be paying $50 per month.
Cahill thinks the district should be allowed to do just that, and if they can’t, then their whole funding plan falls apart. So, in essence, District 150’s building plan is dependent on the district’s ability to avoid a public referendum to extend the tax levy (which is plainly a tax increase). That means, their plan only works if they avoid accountability to the voters.
That’s a bad plan.
PRESS RELEASE
When we used to play Monopoly at my house growing up, not only did landing on Free Parking mean you didn’t land on someone’s hotel on St. James Place, it also meant a windfall of cash, since any Chance or Community Chest fees went into the “kitty” and were awarded to the next person to land on “Free Parking.”