NTHS Referendum Numbers Change Again

From Love New Trier Vote NO:

New Trier HS Admits “$248 for the life of the bonds” is not the truth.

From the very first time the costs to the taxpayer of the $174 million facilities referendum were discussed in public (November 3, 2009), New Trier High School has been insisting that a $10,000 real estate tax bill would only increase $248 as a result of the passage of the referendum. (Source: 11/16/2009 NTHS BOE meeting minutes.)

After we independently estimated that $248 would rise to $631 by the time the $174 million debt had been paid off, the Administration and Board President James Koch accused us of disseminating false and misleading information to the public.

But, subsequent to an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request we filed, the Administration was forced to reveal that its own financing consultant had calculated that the first year’s increment—$248—would rise to $641 by the end of the twenty-year bond payoff period.

So, who is it that has been disseminating “false and misleading” information? Not us!

New Trier's tax increases, well, increase.

A full two and a half months after making the misleading “$248” claim, New Trier is now saying that your $10,000 tax bill will increase $299 the first year, rising to between $404 and $408 from years nine to twenty-three.

Did you notice the twenty-three above? Didn't the Administration say the bonds would be paid off in twenty years before? Yes, they did. But now they have quietly extended the bonds’ life by three years to keep the appearance of a low payment. Anyone who has ever obtained a home mortgage or car loan knows that the easiest way of getting a low payment is to extend the term of the loan. Which is great…for a while.

Are the new increase numbers final?
No, nothing is final. So far, seven financing "scenarios" have been presented to the Board (one, on 11/16/2009, in secret). But the Board has yet to approve any scenario, must less ask even the most fundamental questions about the numbers.