The Feb. 22 letter (“Reasons for RBHS renovation too vague”) that said Riverside-Brookfield High School’s renovation plans are vague included several significant inaccuracies.
It stated that the board has a rough formula for determining the tax bill increase should the referendum pass when, in fact, it is based on a standard formula using information available to all taxpayers from Cook County agencies such as the assessor’s and treasurer’s offices and from the Illinois Department of Revenue.
The estimated cost per taxpayer for a house with a $300,000 market value is $238.03 per year, not the $516 amount provided by the writer. The tax increase for the $600,000 house the writer mentions is $476 per year, not $1,032.
Secondly, the writer believes the administration intends to ask for a 30-percent increase in the operating fund to operate newly renovated facilities, which would be $5.8 million. The real figure, according to Superintendent Jack Baldermann, is $30,000 per year.
Finally, in response to the writer’s belief that the bulk of the proposal is about new athletic facilities, only 15 percent of the proposal is related to athletics.
I think that RB has been forthright about its proposal to renovate a building that hasn’t seen improvements in 40 years and desperately needs it. The administration has held forums, visited all the PTAs, answered questions and is bending over backwards to provide information we can understand.
Clearly, it is in the best interests of our entire community to support this much-needed referendum. We must support RBHS and the March 21 referendum if we care about our property values?”and the most precious commodity of all, our kids.
Sheila H. Daily
Riverside
