East Peoria residents will face some tough referendum questions in the April 7 election — one regarding a new library building, and the other about a countywide sales tax increase for schools.
If the one-cent sales tax is approved for the schools, it could generate more than $11 million throughout the county. Proceeds of the tax can only be used for facility-related expenditures or to support bonds.
Schools have a tough time. The state does not fund them properly, and often they are waiting on payments.
The majority of funds to support schools comes from property tax, and because of this, schools represent the bulk of property tax assessments.
Residents blame schools for their high property taxes. However, one important thing to remember is that schools are generally not supported with any sales tax. Sales tax is reserved for state, county and local municipalities.
In East Peoria, a unique sales tax sharing program exists between the city and the schools. Schools received a quarter percent of the sales tax for 20 years to help with building projects at districts 86 and 309. The fact that schools have been helped with sales tax already may make it harder for voters to approve more sales tax help.
Regardless, school funding is a huge problem. It should be right up there with health-care reform.
State leaders need to get their priorities straight. Schools always seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to funding. Remember the lottery plan to fund schools? Schools received money from the lottery, but then less for the general fund.
School administrators are in a bind when it comes to educating youth. People likely often forget that a school is like a business; it takes money to keep it running. There are heating and lighting costs, building upkeep and employees to pay. In addition, there are youth to educate and feed.
Superintendent Cliff Cobert said neither the district nor the state computes a per pupil education cost, but as part of an audit, the state does a worksheet to establish a tuition cost. The most recent figures (FY08) list the tuition cost to attend EPCHS at $9,788. Parents only pay, on average, $130 in tuition fees, so the burden of this cost is not on them. Colleges can rely heavily on tuition to cover costs. In fact, the ICC board of trustees voted Thursday to approve a 6.1 percent tuition hike. Perhaps the education received at grade and high schools should be treated like that at colleges.
The current funding mechanism for schools is not working well. State leaders and school officials need to work together to come up with a new way to generate funds to educate our youth.
While sales taxes would help, we don’t think this is the ultimate solution. While increasing the sales tax won’t be a burden on homeowners, it is still a burden to those who shop, eat and play in East Peoria and the county. And, no, it is not only tourists who generate sales tax.
We do empathize with the schools, but we also understand why a homeowner who has no children attending school would be frustrated about paying more taxes to support them. However, this goes back to the community mind set we talked about in the library referendum editorial we wrote last week. It behooves all of us to support things to make a stronger community, which attracts and retains businesses and residents. That helps maintain property values and enhances quality of life services for everyone.
Educating youth should be a No. 1 priority for everyone. They are our future leaders who will govern our country.
While we are not telling voters to vote yes or no on the county sales tax referendum, what we are saying is to vote informed and vote for what you think matters.
East Peoria, Ill. —
