Taxpayers United of America (“TUA”) and Wilmette resident Herbert Sorock filed papers with the Circuit Court of Cook County June 7, 2011 claiming Wilmette School District 39 violated the U.S. Constitution, the Illinois Constitution, and the Illinois Property Tax Code by using ballot language in its April 5th property tax increase referendum that significantly failed to comply with Illinois statutory requirements.
There were 39 referenda from 48 different school districts on the ballot April 5, 2011; of the 14 that were property tax increase referenda, 10 were defeated on Election Day. TUA is challenging two of the referenda that passed, in Wilmette and in Oak Park. Read more →
CHICAGO–Yesterday, the Wilmette School District 39 Board successfully objected to a move by Taxpayers United of America (TUA) which would have saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars.
TUA had moved to consolidate two of the referendum cases it has filed so they could be heard as one case. The lawsuits involve both Wilmette School District 39 and Oak Park School District 97. Attorneys for both Boards objected to the consolidation.
In a hearing yesterday before Judge Moshe Jacobious at the Richard J. Daley Center, TUA argued that consolidation was in the interest of judicial economy and should be consolidated in order to avoid confusion that could result from two different Judges coming to conflicting decisions in the two cases. Read more →
The property taxpayers in three school districts continue to battle the property tax increases resulting from the April 5th referenda. In Oak Park School District 97 and in Wilmette School District 39, the initiatives were adopted by the Voters. In Riverside Brookfield District 208, the voters overwhelmingly rejected it, but the lawsuit is seeking damages for the illegal electioneering engaged in by the Board.
In the Wilmette case, on May 23rd Judge Rita M. Novak put the case on an expedited briefing schedule on two main issues: whether to enter a temporary restraining order and whether to dismiss the case. The hearing is set for June 23rd at 11:15 a.m. Read more →
