Schools

District 113A Approves $20M Working Cash Bond Referendum for April Ballot

The board adopted the resolution for the April 5 election during a special meeting Tuesday night.

Lemont-Bromberek Combined School District 113A will once again head to referendum this April after approving a $20 million working cash bond resolution Tuesday night.

The District 113A Board of Education voted 6-1 to adopt the resolution, which will appear on the ballot for the April 5 consolidated election. Board Member Janet Hughes cast the lone dissenting vote.

Should the referendum be approved by voters in Cook and DuPage counties, the tax rate would increase by approximately $0.38 per $100 of equalized assessed value (EAV). The additional cost to the owner of a $300,000 home in Cook County would be about $361 annually, while the additional cost to the owner of a $300,000 home in DuPage County would be about $357 annually.

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The decision to go with a working cash bond bond referendum came after advisers from PMA Financial informed board members that the timing of the April 5 election would create a number of issues for a limiting tax increase.

According to PMA representative Don Weber, if a limiting rate referendum would have been approved, the district would not have seen tax revenue until 2012, which would likely create the need for additional tax anticipation warrants this year.

Find out what's happening in Lemontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If the $20 million working cash bond referendum were to be approved by Lemont voters, the district would set aside approximately $8 million for its working cash fund to use toward repayment of outstanding TAWs and other operational expenses, Weber said. The board would be able to use an estimated $2.4 million each year over five years to begin restoring programs and teachers, he added.


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