Not this time, New Trier

New Trier's "official" numbers keep changing, citizens had to use a FOIA to get the truth, yet they expect us to vote on this HUGE tax increase in these difficult times, putting money into buildings rather than people. Go back to the drawing board New Trier, you are asking too much and you haven't been honest with the public. Even recent alumni are taken aback. As for those who have been around a few years, this from reader Meg:

Was talking w/2 friends about the NT referendum. One friend's husband read their tax bill very closely and found a $200 charge for NT from 20 years ago. Please double check your tax bill for this additional reason to defeat the referendum.

Love New Trier, Vote NO! :

Needed: A better plan.
We are just one day from an important decision about the New Trier High School $174 million facilities referendum. We have all along been advocating a “no” vote because we want a better plan, and this is the only way to deliver that message to the school board. We are not against keeping New Trier in good physical condition, but the $174 million proposal goes beyond the necessary to the extravagant—two-story atrium cafeteria and library, NCAA-level athletic facilities, underground parking, and climbing wall, to mention but a few.

Decades of debt, and more to come.
With this project, we will be assuming twenty-three years of new debt; for eight of those years, we will still be paying off preexisting debt. As for future projects, the administration’s claim that no new facilities referendum would be needed for Winnetka for twenty years must be questioned. The April 2009 long range plan explicitly states that the entire Winnetka campus must be renovated. And, left unsaid is a future referendum for the Northfield campus to remedy the same problems that are listed for Winnetka now.

Let's not forget the teachers.
We are all New Trier residents; most of us have had, or will have, children go through New Trier. If we spend this $174 million now, where will the money come from to finish the rest of Winnetka and Northfield? And, more importantly, where will the money come from to ensure we can hire the best teachers in the future if our tax bills are inflated with bricks-and-mortar payments?

Especially in these times, there are limits to what we can afford. Let’s use the resources we have wisely. Say "no" February 2nd, for a better plan tomorrow.