Funding referendum on May ballot
The School Town of Highland is turning to taxpayers seeking its first-ever referendum to raise funds to keep the district in the black and improve school safety.
The referendum will appear on the May 2 ballot and ask residents for support of a measure that would generate an estimated $4.7 million a year for the next eight years. The increase equals .3204 cent per $100 of assessed value and amounts to about a $24.28 a year more for the average homeowner.
Superintendent Brian Smith said the referendum is necessary to keep the existing programs and staffing levels in place while focusing on increasing school safety. Revenues have been declining due to decreases in enrollment, property tax caps and circuit breaker constraints.
The district has been fiscally responsible, but it has come to a point where severe cuts will be needed if revenues are not raised, Smith said. Currently, the school district’s tax rate is about .67 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, the lowest rate out of all 16 Lake County school corporations. If approved, the school town’s rate would rise to about .99 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Residents can get information about the referendum on at the school system’s website: https:// schooltownhighlandin.sites.thrillshare.com/page/referendum-investment-calculator. A calculator function on the site enables property owners to plug in their information for a more accurate estimate, he said.
Currently, the average school tax rate in Lake County is $1.5493 per $100 of assessed valuation, according information about the referendum provided on the school town’s website. The Lake Ridge School Corp. has the highest tax rate at $2.9507 per $100 of assessed valuation, according to the site. Both the School Town of Munster and the Tri-Creek School Corp. also will be seeking referendums in May.
Smith said people ask what cuts have been made to offset revenue decreases. Most of those cuts have been done through attrition over the years. Each position that is vacated is evaluated to determine whether it is necessary before it is refilled. He said currently the
school system is rightly staffed or slightly understaffed.
None of the district’s elementary schools have assistant principals even though two schools have almost 500 students. There are no district social workers and staffing levels have been reduced over the years through attrition. For example, when the director of human resources retired a decade ago, that position and its secretary both were eliminated. It’s a move that saved the district more than $1.5 million in payroll and benefits over the decade.
“We are well aware times are tough right now. People are on fixed incomes. It’s not a real big ask,” Smith said.
The funds are needed to continue current programming past 2024 and to improve school safety, he said. Currently, there is one school resource officer for six buildings.
School board president Victor Garcia said officials decided to seek the referendum after engaging with financial consultants who painted a “very bleak picture of what the future holds.” Projections show the district will operate in a deficit by 2025 if additional revenues are not raised.
Officials have known for a number of years they would eventually need to seek a referendum, he said, but put it off as long as possible, especially in light of the pandemic.
“There’s never a good time to go to your community and ask for additional dollars. We understand the inflationary pressures. The reality is we don’t have the choice,” Garcia said.