Lessons to learn from library dispute

The thought of a heated legal battle regarding close to 1,600 acres is not something one would expect to entangle two area library boards.

Consider that it's been going on for almost two years, and it really becomes a head-scratcher for most people.

It is confusing because it involves taxing districts and their boundaries. And also because it was triggered by an annexation that allegedly went against a previous long-standing verbal agreement.

In the fall of 2006, Batavia's library board voted to annex the mostly vacant land in dispute west of Geneva's Mill Creek development. That land is in the Geneva School District, so members of the Geneva Library Board were operating under the assumption, and apparently a past agreement, that the land would eventually be in the Geneva library taxing district.

Batavia's move came without significant awareness in the community, a fact that Geneva officials jumped on in claiming that Batavia legally should be obligated to take the annexation question before its residents.

Thus, the fray entered the legal system and various twists and turns, including an Illinois Supreme Court ruling about who should hear the case. A Kane County circuit judge ruled late last month that a resident's petition calling for a referendum on the annexation issue was not valid.

Batavia officials breathed a sigh of relief, but Geneva library board members claim they are not finished pursuing the matter and, in fact, are awaiting another ruling in McHenry County, where Genevans felt they would get a fairer hearing and expose all of the mistakes they allege Batavia made in its annexation process.

We don't know better than the judges what ruling should be made, but we do believe it is sensible for any governing board to seek input and get a clear mandate about anything that would possibly create future taxes for its residents. The annexation of land that will someday equate to new development, new households and new library patrons, falls into that category.

Geneva is spending legal fees on the notion that if it can somehow get Batavia's annexation dropped, it can secure that land itself for future patrons and revenue. If the courts continue to rule in Batavia's favor, it will be an unfortunate waste of Geneva's time and money.

In addition to those points, it is clear that the area has grown well beyond the stage in which verbal understandings from prior decades would hold much water. Legal documents, signatures and binding agreements are the order of the day.

And last, but not least, it doesn't surprise us that neighboring taxing bodies are at odds over what essentially boils down to a taxing district boundary dispute. Many taxing districts in Illinois result in students and residents from one town going to the schools, libraries or park districts in a different town.

Depending on how this Geneva-Batavia library dispute shakes out, it could be the basis for more serious discussions about clarifying or consolidating taxing districts.