Politics & Government
District 97 Referendum Passes
Voter turnout tops 10,000, with nearly 55 percent supporting a tax increase.
Oak Park voters approved an Oak Park Elementary School District 97 referendum on Tuesday, ensuring the necessary tax revenue to meet an approaching annual budget gap district officials say swelled to $5.7 million.
At 11 p.m. Tuesday, 44 of 45 precincts had reported results, with 54.34 percent supporting the referendum and 45.66 percent opposed.
“It’s reflective of Oak Parkers wanting to support the school district we have come to know and love here,” said Peter Traczyk, president of the school board.
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Approval of the referendum means Oak Park homeowners will pay $37.40 more per $1,000 on their property tax bill, or $347 on a typical $10,000 bill.
But the tax increase is limited until 2018, when another referendum may be necessary.
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It also means the Oak Park Elementary District 97 School Board won't proceed with that included elimination of the CAST and BRAVO programs, the elementary art classes, middle school sports, and layoffs.
Traczyk said he had predicted a margin of victory of closer to 2 percent, and was happy to see it closer to 10 percent.
But Noel Kuriakos of the Citizens Alliance of Oak Park, which actively opposed the referendum, said he felt the race was closer than expected.
He said there was a clear message to the board, even in defeat, that there as a large group of residents concerned by the spending in the district.
“They just barely squeaked by,” said Kuriakos of the referendum supporters. “We are going to be closely following the board going forward. They have no excuse now not to put their fiscal house in order.”
Kuriakos said he tried to rally local voters who might otherwise have planned to stay home on Tuesday, and said he was impressed by the overall turnout of more than 10,000.
Traczyk said the referendum passage did not mean his board would go out spending more money aimlessly.
“The referendum allows us to continue to manage the programs we have now,” he said. “This is by no means a free ticket to [go] out and spend.”
Even with the referendum passing, District 97 Superintendent Al Roberts has pledged to cut $925,000 in the budget, of which $800,000 would be permanent.
