Possible sales tax increase would improve Urbana school facilities

When residents of Champaign County go to their polling places on April 7, there will be more at stake for students in the Urbana School District than the possibility of new aldermen and village clerks. The ballot will include a referendum to introduce a 1 percent sales tax in Champaign County, designated to improve school facilities.

The County School Facility Occupation Tax Law, which took effect in October of 2007 despite a veto by former Governor Rod Blagojevich, makes it possible for schools to generate income from sales tax. Previously, Illinois school districts were forced to ask voters to increase their property taxes to fund building repair or replacement.

“What the county-wide sales tax will allow is each of the 14 public school districts in the county to develop regular, strategic short term and long term maintenance plans instead of the boom and bust cycle we have right now, because (it’s) money you can rely on coming, you know it’s going to be there,” Urbana School Board President Mark Netter said.

If a majority of Champaign County voters approve the referendum, the 1 percent sales tax will go into effect Jan. 1, 2010, and the revenue will be distributed among every public school in the county.

The amount each district would receive would be determined by the number of students the district serves. USD 116 is projected to receive $3 million annually.

“Right now, in Urbana at least, we’re 50 percent dependent on the property tax. We get about a third of our budget then from state aid and the rest from federal grants,” Netter said. “The 1 percent sales tax diversifies a way to give us an alternative source of revenue.”

According to Netter, the sales tax would also regionalize support for public schools since residents of any city or town in Champaign County can shop outside of their own district and part of the sales tax they pay will benefit their local public school.

“If you live in Thomasboro or Ludow and you shop on North Prospect, some of your purchase is going to go back and benefit your schools in Thomasboro or Ludlow, it won’t all go to the Champaign school district,” Netter said.

But the fact that anyone shopping in Champaign County will be supporting all 14 of its school districts may not be as appealing to University students. It’s estimated that as much as 30 percent of the tax will be paid by people who are not permanent residents of Champaign County.

“We’re in a situation where, because of the University, because of the large numbers of people who come in here for football games, basketball games, concerts, things like that, then stop and have a meal and maybe fill up their car with gas, a lot of this burden will be shared with non-county residents,” Netter said.

Money from the sales tax is designated only for specific uses, however. It must be used for costs relating directly to the facilities, such as building replacement, renovation or energy conservation. The tax could not be used to pay salaries or fund programs.

A facilities committee is in place in Urbana and has already started the process of determining how the revenue from the proposed sales tax would be best used.

“Our biggest priority is our (Washington Early Childhood Center). The building needs replacement,” Urbana School District Vice President John Dimit, who also serves on the facilities committee, said.

“If the referendum passes, we’ll start the process immediately of determining how we want to replace those classrooms,” Dimit added. “It would take a little while before we’d have to actually be building anything.

“We know that the existing building is not suitable, that determination has already been made. But exactly how we replace those classrooms, we have some additional discussion to go. But I would say it would be within, even within 18 months.”

Washington Early Childhood Center is the preschool facility for the Urbana School District. The building is not only too small, it is also inappropriate for a preschool.

Built in 1926 to be an elementary school, the building has insufficient wiring for modern electronics, limited handicapped accessibility and is difficult or impossible to upgrade because parts are constructed with asbestos and should not be punctured.

“In 1926, the wiring was not put in to accommodate technology,” Washington Principal Cris Vowel said. “There are sometimes just a couple outlets in classrooms and we have to unplug a computer to plug in the tape recorder, that kind of thing. And we blow fuses just because the wiring is not appropriate for the amount of power we’re asking for.”

The preschool serves some of the community’s most vulnerable children. According to Vowel, they currently instruct 325 children ages 3, 4 and 5 in “blended classrooms” that contain children of different ages and with and without special needs. Not only is the school in disrepair, it is too small to house all the children in need of the service.

When it comes to necessary improvements, the list is long but the needs are basic.

“First of all, we hope (a new building) is bigger so that we can put in more classrooms than what we currently have. We also are hoping for a building that is accessible of course,” Vowel said. “And we would like a building that can grow as technology changes and the needs change. And we’d like something that’s very family centered.”

But the proposed sales tax would be good for the community as a whole as well. For example, building and renovating the public schools would create good paying construction jobs, according to Netter.

Washington isn’t the only building slated for help. Multiple buildings are on the list to become more energy efficient to save costs for the district. It’s about more than just the money, though.

“Public education is the bedrock on which this country was founded,” Netter said. “I think really, if you want to have quality communities and you want to keep your property values up, you need to have good schools.

“And it’s not enough for one or two communities in a county to be solid school communities and school systems if your neighbors are suffering,” Netter added.