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Waltham Elementary to vote Aug. 11 on referendum · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Waltham Elementary to vote August eleventh on referendum. Written by
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  Speaker 1: Tom Collins, This article is being read by an automated
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  Speaker 1: voice brought to you by Everlett. The Waltham Elementary School
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  Speaker 1: Board will decide August eleventh whether to ask voters to
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  Speaker 1: fund a seven point five million dollars expansion. Based on
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  Speaker 1: Monday's discussion, it looks as if they will forge ahead
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  Speaker 1: with a ballot question. The issue is when board members
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  Speaker 1: are not settled on whether to try for voters to
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  Speaker 1: support at the November third election or to push for
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  Speaker 1: a vote in spring twenty twenty seven. Waltham is grappling
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  Speaker 1: with a space crunch and surging enrollment. New classrooms are needed,
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  Speaker 1: but would come with a sizeable tax increase. According to
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  Speaker 1: a Shaw Local projection, Utica Mayor David Stewart would pay
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  Speaker 1: Waltham thirteen percent more in taxes. Superintendent Christy Eager urged
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  Speaker 1: the board at a special meeting Monday to aim for
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  Speaker 1: a unanimous vote come August eleventh. We have to show
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  Speaker 1: a united front, Eager said that might not be easy.
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  Speaker 1: Monday's meeting was at times contentious, and two variables stand
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  Speaker 1: in the way of a consensus. First is whether the
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  Speaker 1: public is sufficiently behind it. Waltham board members have held
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  Speaker 1: informational meetings to build public support. Some members believe they
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  Speaker 1: are making headway and that now is the time to
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  Speaker 1: put it to a vote. What good is it going
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  Speaker 1: to do us to sit and wait, board member Rachel
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  Speaker 1: Bilestri said, She added later, I think it's fiscally irresponsible
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  Speaker 1: for us not to put this on the ballot. Board
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  Speaker 1: member Brian Phillips pointed out Waltham's last referendum in spring
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five ended in failure, and he's wary of
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  Speaker 1: another setback at the polls. If we go to November
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  Speaker 1: and lose again, Phillips said, that will only worsen our
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  Speaker 1: chances in April. The second issue is whether there might
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  Speaker 1: be alternate funding available to defray the cost and take
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  Speaker 1: the sting out of the proposed forty five cent rate increase.
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  Speaker 1: Eager explained the school was constructed not by raising taxes,
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  Speaker 1: but rather through a tax ignment financing agreement with the
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  Speaker 1: Utica area taxing bodies. Eager said Waltham could enter a
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  Speaker 1: similar arrangement to fund the expansion, or at least defray
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  Speaker 1: the costs. Months of negotiations would be required to pull
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  Speaker 1: it off. She said. This would be a fantastic opportunity,
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  Speaker 1: Eager said, if we can make it work. Eager said
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  Speaker 1: Waltham must first secure the seven point five million dollars
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  Speaker 1: through bonds and seek voter approval to do so, and
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  Speaker 1: then see if there are tip funds available to abate
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  Speaker 1: the bonds and ease the tax hit. We're going to
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  Speaker 1: take out that bond, whether we have an alternate way
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  Speaker 1: of paying for it or not, she said. Waltham has
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  Speaker 1: until August seventeenth to put a referendum on the November ballot.