Metamora voters are set to decide on whether to raise the maximum annual property tax rate for Metamora Grade School District 1. A referendum will appear on the ballot for March’s primary election.
Superintendent Ben Lee says the referendum is necessary, as the district has been running on cash reserves and issuing bonds for years.
“When the state began prorating payments to school districts, the school board at the time chose to absorb that gap with existing fund balances,” Lee said. “And those reserves dwindled, and the district sought a referendum, which was defeated by the voters in both 2016 and 2017.”
Lee saID the previous referendums failed by small margins, claiming 2017 was within recount range. Lee saID the board has been clear: it’s time to try again. When explaining the proposed change, Lee calls it a tax rate swap, rather than an increase. If passed, the referendum would raise the maximum annual property tax rate for educational purposes from 1.52% to 2.31%.
The change would allow more money to be allocated to the education fund, a rule dictated by state statute, he said.
“So even if the total tax rate remains the same, and we wanted to just put more in the education fund, it would still require a referendum in order to raise the maximum rate of the education fund,” he said. “ And I think that's what people get hung up on with the intricacies of school district finance, is that at the end of the day, the tax rate overall can stay the same. But we still have to raise the maximum rate in one of the funds.”
Lee stresses the financial situation is not a result of the district spending flagrantly.
“Within the past three years since my tenure began here at Metamora grade school, we've cut the workforce by 10%,” Lee said. “And we made reductions in every department: supplies, expenditures, our support staff. We've revised job descriptions, we've eliminated three buses, drivers and bus routes. We are the lowest seventh percentile of operational costs per pupil in the entire state. So there's not much more to reduce, honestly.”
With these reductions already in the rear view mirror, Lee said another failed referendum would mean further staff reductions, rising class sizes and a careful eye on potential athletics program cuts.
It could even mean possibly consolidating with a neighboring district.
"So should this referendum fail again, that's something that the board is going to explore in the form of a feasibility study,” Lee said. “And now, that's one of the other measures that we're looking at.”
Metamora Grade School District 1 is one sprawling campus building— about 120,000 square feet, said Lee. The school is home to around 825 students between kindergarten and eighth grade. After the workforce reductions, the district employs around 90 people.
Lee said conversations with parents and community members about the referendum have been promising so far.
“We just have to get over the hump and there's certainly a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “We just have to take the tough steps and the tough votes in order to get there.”
There have been a dozen informational sessions already, with the next board of education meeting on Jan. 4, 2024.
You can find a full schedule of meetings and other information provided by the district here. Election day is March 19, 2024.
