Warren TWP HSD 121 (WTHS) wants to raise taxes during a pandemic! The school district has placed on the April 6th ballot a referendum to increase the limiting rate on property taxes, effectively raising property taxes by $7.6 million!
“Illinois is still locked down, schools aren’t even fully open, yet the career tax-raisers at WTHS want taxpayers to fork over another $7.6 million,” said Jim Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “This is really hitting the taxpayers when they’re down.”
“All of the top 15 annual salaries in WTHS are greater than $136,000, and, when they retire, these teachers will collect millions from the Teachers Retirement System (TRS). And these ‘poor civil servants’ still aren’t back in the classroom. It’s unconscionable that government school administrators would expect taxpayers to subsidize these overpaid teachers with more of their hard-earned money.”
Lake County, IL ranks 18th out of 3,143 counties for property taxes as a percentage of annual income–6.76%. Lake County’s average annual property tax of $6,285 is the highest of all Illinois counties.
“WTHS needs to sell the 100-acre parcel that they purchased in 2008 for $8 million. Proceeds from the sale would go a long way to protect the programs that the government school bureaucrats are threatening to drop if the referendum fails. They have threatened to risk students’ ability to qualify for colleges, scholarships, and succeed in life.”
“Do your jobs and get the kids back in school and do it with the revenue you have,” said Tobin. “Raising taxes just pushes more people out of the state, decreasing revenue.” “We urge everyone in District 121 to show up and VOTE NO on April 6th. Tell the tax-raisers to balance their budgets without another money grab.”
