Dear District 39 Families,

As Superintendent, my role is to make sure information you have about the April 5th referendum is accurate and timely. I would like to correct misinformation that has been recently circulated to residents.

Two “robo calls” by a group opposing the referendum recently made statements that claim the referendum will raise your taxes substantially higher than what the District has said. These statements are not accurate.

Here are the pertinent facts, both of which have been consistently conveyed by the District in all of our communications regarding the referendum.

• The estimated impact of a successful referendum on the taxpayer will be an increase of $58.80 per $1,000 of total property taxes paid. If your property tax bill is $10,000, your property taxes will increase by $588 to $10,588.
• The District is seeking $6.375 million in additional revenue through the referendum. The District passed a Statement of Intent at the January 18 board meeting, confirming that it will levy no more than this amount, for a total levy of $43,933,588 for all funds other than debt service, even though Illinois law required the ballot to state the estimate of tax extensions at the proposed new limiting rate as the higher $49,187,710 amount.

The confusion results from the ballot language mandated by the Property Tax Extension Limitation ("Tax Cap") Law. District 39 issued a press release that is available on our website and provides additional detail on the ballot language.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions. Please feel free to share this information with other community members.

Your partner in education,

Raymond E. Lechner, Ph.D.
Superintendent
Wilmette Public Schools District 39

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