Ballot lacks details of Warren school question

Backers of a Warren Township High School plan to borrow $30 million mostly to expand the Almond Road upperclassmen campus say a "yes" vote would result in lower taxes.

Opponents contend a reduced tax rate should't be contingent on the ballot measure winning and that residents ultimately would foot the bill if Gurnee-based Warren District 121 takes out the construction loan.

But the official ballot question won't offer much of a clue about what the proponents and detractors are arguing about.

On the ballot, voters will be asked whether $30 million in school building bonds should be issued for Warren to "repair and equip the existing school buildings" and "build and equip one or more additions thereto."

District 121 board member Richard Conley, who opposes the request, said the ballot wording won't do his side any favors. He said voters might mistakenly believe Warren wants permission to buy interest-paying bonds as an investment.

"I think many people don't understand what issuance of a bond means," Conley said. "It's borrowing, or a mortgage."

Unlike Conley, Warren board member Charles Crowley Jr. wants voters to give the district permission to borrow a maximum of $30 million. While state law limits ballot wording, he said, the Warren voters should have enough information to decide.

"I think the voters are smart enough to figure it out," Crowley said Monday.

Proponents say refinancing of construction debt four years ago would allow Warren to offer a 9-cent tax-rate cut if the request to borrow the $30 million passes. They say an owner of a $300,000 market value home would pay about $88 less toward the bond and interest fund next year.

Although the bond and interest tax rate was slated to dip from 28 to 14 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation next year, a Warren board majority agreed to not let that happen if the referendum request fails. Instead, they'll keep the rate at 28 cents and use the money to accelerate debt payments.

Conley argued that financial documents prepared for Warren show property owners would pay more in the long run if the referendum request were approved.

If voters approve, Warren would add 14 new classrooms, renovate offices, build more physical education space and expand the cafeteria into the Black Box Theater at the Almond building. Roughly 2,200 students would be accommodated with an expansion that also includes parking lot upgrades and a new fine-arts facility built onto the 11-year-old school.

Plans also call for fire-alarm system repairs at Almond and the O'Plaine Road campus for freshmen and sophomores as well as fixing and replacing telephone and security systems at both buildings.

Growth at the Almond Road campus is cited as the main reason for the $30 million request. Six-day enrollment was 1,901 at a building officials say was designed to handle 1,800 students.