Post by we4 on Jul 24, 2008 6:27:38 GMT -5
www.suntimes.com/news/education/1072483,CST-NWS-skul24.article
No property tax increase for schools this year
CPS | Taxpayers deserve a break, Daley, Duncan say
For the first time since Mayor Daley's 1995 school takeover, the Chicago Board of Education will balance its budget without raising property taxes.
Instead of increasing the burden on tax-weary homeowners and businesses, the board will dip $50 million deeper into a reserve fund, reducing it to $380 million. That's about as low as it can go without jeopardizing the school bond rating that determines borrowing costs.
Chicago Public Schools also will put off until next summer its annual bond issue for capital programs. That will save $35 million in borrowing costs. An additional $12 million will be generated by cutting the system's central office again and reducing transportation costs.
"Does this plan mean that we are able to expand all the programs we'd like to next year? No. Like every student and parent, I had hoped we'd be able to do more next year," Daley told a City Hall news conference. "But Chicago taxpayers have been generous and supported our school improvements, and they deserve a break."
Schools CEO Arne Duncan added, "People are hurting. They're having a hard time making ends meet. And we refuse to add to that burden. . . . We will not raise taxes. It would have been the wrong thing to do at this time."
But Duncan said academic programs that deserve to be expanded will not be able to grow without an influx of new revenue.
Eleven times in the last 13 years, Daley has given the Board of Education the green light to raise property taxes to the maximum allowed by a state-imposed property tax cap. Daley's 2008 budget was balanced with $276.5 million in taxes, fines and fees, including an $83.4 million property tax increase, the largest in Chicago history. The City Council also approved a 40 percent increase in the city's real estate transfer tax tied to the CTA bailout.
After all of that, Daley decided that taxpayers have had enough. He pledged to hold the line on the city's property tax levy, even though his preliminary 2009 budget due out next week is expected to include one of the biggest shortfalls in recent memory.
The mayor was asked what finally convinced him that taxpayers were at the breaking point.
"When I saw layoffs at Tribune. When you start seeing layoffs in the newspaper industry, that's a big sign. . . . That says a lot. . . . This economy is getting more and more challenging. It's gonna be much deeper and much longer" than anybody thought, Daley said.
No property tax increase for schools this year
CPS | Taxpayers deserve a break, Daley, Duncan say
For the first time since Mayor Daley's 1995 school takeover, the Chicago Board of Education will balance its budget without raising property taxes.
Instead of increasing the burden on tax-weary homeowners and businesses, the board will dip $50 million deeper into a reserve fund, reducing it to $380 million. That's about as low as it can go without jeopardizing the school bond rating that determines borrowing costs.
Chicago Public Schools also will put off until next summer its annual bond issue for capital programs. That will save $35 million in borrowing costs. An additional $12 million will be generated by cutting the system's central office again and reducing transportation costs.
"Does this plan mean that we are able to expand all the programs we'd like to next year? No. Like every student and parent, I had hoped we'd be able to do more next year," Daley told a City Hall news conference. "But Chicago taxpayers have been generous and supported our school improvements, and they deserve a break."
Schools CEO Arne Duncan added, "People are hurting. They're having a hard time making ends meet. And we refuse to add to that burden. . . . We will not raise taxes. It would have been the wrong thing to do at this time."
But Duncan said academic programs that deserve to be expanded will not be able to grow without an influx of new revenue.
Eleven times in the last 13 years, Daley has given the Board of Education the green light to raise property taxes to the maximum allowed by a state-imposed property tax cap. Daley's 2008 budget was balanced with $276.5 million in taxes, fines and fees, including an $83.4 million property tax increase, the largest in Chicago history. The City Council also approved a 40 percent increase in the city's real estate transfer tax tied to the CTA bailout.
After all of that, Daley decided that taxpayers have had enough. He pledged to hold the line on the city's property tax levy, even though his preliminary 2009 budget due out next week is expected to include one of the biggest shortfalls in recent memory.
The mayor was asked what finally convinced him that taxpayers were at the breaking point.
"When I saw layoffs at Tribune. When you start seeing layoffs in the newspaper industry, that's a big sign. . . . That says a lot. . . . This economy is getting more and more challenging. It's gonna be much deeper and much longer" than anybody thought, Daley said.