A group opposed to the $58.8 million bond referendum to renovate and expand Riverside-Brookfield High School has begun a last minute attempt to defeat the referendum.
The organizers of the meeting held last Thursday night in Brookfield included two former District 208 school board members, Jim Keen of Riverside and Fred Orechek of North Riverside.
Twenty or so people turned out to the meeting at the Sokol hall on Prairie Avenue in Brookfield to plan strategy and talk about the referendum.
Most of those attending were senior citizens who were concerned that they would be driven out of their homes by increased property taxes if the referendum is approved.
“I think we’ll have to get out of the house [if the referendum passes], we can’t afford it,” said Laddie Gaja, a 43-year resident of Riverside, who said that he currently pays about $6,600 in property taxes. “I would like to die in Riverside.”
Keen, who served on the District 208 school board from 1978 to 1989, believes that District 208 is underestimating the tax increase that would occur if the referendum passes. Keen has calculated that the increase in the taxes would be approximately 55 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation. Keen figures that the taxes on his home, which has an equalized assessed valuation of $152,317, would increase by $837 if the referendum passes.
However District 208 officials dispute Keen’s calculations. John Gibson, the business manager for District 208, says that the rate would only increase by about 31 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation, which means that Keen’s taxes would increase by about $470 a year.
“Based on what I’ve seen of Jim’s calculations, he is not following the appropriate steps to calculate the tax rate,” Gibson said. “And ultimately his calculations are flawed.”
District officials say that taxpayers can calculate the exact impact of a successful referendum on their taxes by visiting www.rbhs208.org/refpage.htm.
Opponents of the referendum say that although they accept that RB needs some renovation and modernization the district’s plans are excessive. Opponents focus on plans for a new field house, swimming pool, parking deck and synthetic surface for the football field.
Keen and others also feel the district’s plan for 14 science labs is excessive. Keen, 75, was a research chemist by profession and has 20 patents to his name. Ten of his 12 children attended RB.
One of his sons, Richard, is the acting chief of surgery at Stroger Hospital in Chicago, and all of his children have graduated from college and one has completed post graduate work. While he says he values education, Keen believes that the district is overstating the importance of lab work for high school science.
“Laboratory work at the high school level, in my opinion, is largely a waste of time,” said Keen. “It really isn’t needed. For high school kids the benefit is not that great. I don’t see a need for 14 laboratories.”
Orechek served on the District 208 school board from 1993 to 1995. He says that although he agrees the RB building needs some improvement and modernization, he feels that the district’s plans are excessive. He said that if the referendum is defeated the district will be forced to come up with a more modest proposal.
“They have a ways to go before they convince me that they’ve economized enough,” said Orechek.
Terence Heuel of Riverside chaired the meeting.
“I’m just trying to be able to afford to stay in this town,” said Heuel, a lawyer who works in Chicago and recently built a new home in Riverside. “I think we’re going beyond what is needed.”
The organizers of the meeting said that they were disappointed by the sparse turnout last week and have scheduled another meeting at the Sokol hall for Friday night, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. The opponents have already begun to pass out literature urging a “no” vote on the referendum, and hope to recruit more people to go door to door on the final weekend before the March 21 vote.
“We’ve got to get mad, pissed off and active,” said Frank Drazan of Brookfield, another vocal opponent of the referendum.
James Tobin, of the National Taxpayers United of Illinois, also spoke at the meeting, denouncing the RB renovation plan as extravagant.
“The key is getting voter turnout up,” he said. “If only 10 percent to 20 percent turn out this is going to pass.”
Tobin claimed that the tax increase would be in the realm of $2,000 per household, but gave no basis for that claim. Tobin is an anti-tax crusader who lives in Berwyn, and has also vociferously opposed a high school referendum in that city.
Drazan, Heuel and Orechek were among the 25 or so people who went on a facilities tour at RB on Saturday.
Drazan and other opponents say they could support a more modest tax increase just for renovation and modernization. He said that he personally could support a $40 million renovation, but not the new pool or field house.
