New Trier Plan: What is wrong with this picture?

UPDATE: It took a FOIA to find out the truth! (see below)***Love New Trier, Vote NO. Letter to the editor, Philip, Glencoe News:

What is wrong with this picture?

1. The federal deficit is expanding and is at staggering levels so that my grandchildren may have to pay for it.

2. The State of Illinois is insolvent and the governor is asking for a 50 percent increase in income tax rate.

3. The Village of Glencoe and both school districts have raised their tax levy for the next year.

4. The health care bill being considered by congress will reduce Medicare benefits and raise the cost of private health insurance.

5. The Social Security Administration announced no cost of living adjustments for retirees for 2010.

6. The Cook County Assessor just notified us that real estate values in New Trier Township have gone down.

7. Unemployment is in excess of 10 percent national and higher in Illinois.

8. Cook County is in precarious financial shape.

9. Illinois is losing jobs and population to other areas of the country.

10. The last issue of the Pioneer Press had six and one-half pages of foreclosure notices and one out of forty homes in Cook County is in foreclosure.

11. New Trier High School is one of the top rated schools in Illinois in spite of its out-dated physical plant.

12. In order to subsidize the Build America Bonds that the New Trier School District wants to issue the Federal Government will have to borrow the funds for the subsidy for the next twenty years.

So tell me again why I should vote for the $174 million bond issue?

Another one, from Marcia O:

It was disturbing to see the claim that the New Trier $174 million referendum will cost a taxpayer $248-$295 per $10,000 annual tax bill.

It is impossible for such an amortization schedule to retire the $174 million bond.

The financial consultant, produced two new scenarios dated January 19 which meet the initial claim of $248-$295/$10,000. But, to accomplish this, they had to change assumptions, e.g. term, starting point, bond plus interest factor. We currently pay $100 to service existing New Trier debt, that would climb to at least $402 and could go as high as $441.

I have watched the Nov. 3, 2009 board meeting on the New Trier video Web site wherein the financial consultant made her initial presentation. Following that, the board spent less than five minutes discussing the repayment structure of the largest single-school referendum in the history of New Trier Township at a point in time when we are enduring one of the most significant recessions in our nation's history.

Vote "no" on Feb. 2 to send this board a message. When a board asks for millions of dollars, they need to execute their fiduciary duty and provide a full and clear disclosure on what it will cost a taxpayer.

Love New Trier, Vote NO

P.S. Remember this from yesterday's bulletin from Love New Trier Vote NO--it took a FOIA to find out the truth!:

THE FINANCING IS UNREASONABLE

• Residents are being asked to borrow 100% of the building costs with a full twenty-three year payoff period. This "zero down, decades to pay" mentality is what got this country in financial trouble two years ago.
• With a $174 million loan outstanding, would our credit rating remain good enough when the next mega-project comes along (replacing the rest of Winnetka and/or Northfield)?
• The New Trier Administration has given the public the impression that the project would only cost an extra $248 per year —fixed over time—on a $10,000 real estate tax bill. But it’s not a fixed amount, and it took a Freedom of Information Act request before the Administration would disclose that $248 in 2011 would grow to $641 by 2030.

Now, almost three months after the financing costs of this plan were first made public, the Administration keeps changing assumptions—seven "scenarios" so far and counting. Few understand just how much higher their tax bill will rise. Just remember: "$248" is only the first year's increase.