With the start of the 2012 presidential campaign bringing national issues to the forefront, it is easy to overlook the actions of the local government.  However, since recent controversies will likely directly affect high school students, now is a time to pay attention to the Lake Zurich Village Board’s actions.

As part of its downtown redevelopment project, the previous board created a tax increment financing (TIF) district for downtown Lake Zurich.  This means that the Village lends money to developers to build, then a portion of the property taxes collected from the new developments pays off these loans.  This means other recipients of tax revenues, like the school district, receive less money than usual if the development does not generate enough extra revenue.

This is exactly what happened.  The poor economy, the collapse of the housing bubble, disputes with the developers, and other issues left actual property tax revenue far short of projections, and now the Village wants to cut District 95’s portion of tax revenue by 50 percent, or $300,000. 

Otherwise, according to Bob Vitas, Village Administrator, in his presentation to the TIF Board at their meeting, the TIF district will lose a fifth of its revenue and will have to make serious cutbacks.

At a joint Village and School Board meeting to discuss the proposal, Village Board members used the word Doomsday (referring to 2014) a number of times.  When this kind of language describes the situation, citizens should start getting worried and paying attention to the actions of the boards.

The School Board expressed a willingness to cooperate with the Village, but not to give up the $300,000, as District 95 covers more towns than just Lake Zurich and such action would not be fair to non-Lake Zurich students.

“I feel that there needs to be a partnership, but I don’t think we have any intent to waive receipts, not a penny,” Doug Goldberg, School Board member, said at the December 1 meeting.

Goldberg mentioned that he asked, when the boards met 30 months ago, what would happen if the Village did not have the funds to pay District 95, and the Village responded they would “have a plan.”

Village decisions will now most likely result in some kind of budget cuts for District 95.  It is a serious problem that through no fault of its own, an LZHS club or sport could lose its funding, or a District 95 teacher could lose his or her job.

Vitas resigned from the Village two days after; Al Zochowski, Village Finance Director, resigned a few days later over complaints about micromanagement and disagreements with the board over where to spend revenues.  He recommended rate increases on sewer and water utilities; now, a consulting firm has told the Board it will need to increase rates or they will run out of reserved money.

“We’re out of cash. I keep telling them we do not have any more money, and they don’t take action. We need to generate money,” Zochowski told the Chicago Tribune (TribLocal) following his resignation.

All these matters of finances can seem dry and complicated, but these issues are making a big impact on Lake Zurich residents and District 95 programs.  Bear Facts has urged political participation before, and sometimes it is hard to see how anything at the national level affects LZHS students, but decisions from this board and previous boards are undeniably making an impact.

Pay attention to what is going on with Lake Zurich government, and understand the local issues, so you can support or oppose changes to the taxes your parents pay or the programs you use daily.