Latest news with #PropertyTaxExtensionLimitationLaw
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Election: Here's who won local races in Livingston County's Consolidated Election
Among the winners in Tuesday's Consolidated Election were Richard Runyon of Chatsworth and Kelly Eckhoff of Pontiac. Runyon saw his re-election effort for Chatsworth village president succeed as he defeated challenger Michael Ifland with ease. Runyon garnered 79% of the vote to Ifland's 21%. Eckhoff ran unopposed for Pontiac mayor after defeating incumbent Bill Alvey in the Feb. 25 primary. Incumbent Jacob Medema and challenger Joseph Donald Highland finished in a dead heat with each claiming 50% of the vote for highway commissioner in Newtown Township. Matthew Steidinger upset incumbent Mark Yoder with 63% of the vote for Fayette Township commissioner. Incumbent Robin Bohm has won his position for Pontiac Township commissioner by defeating challenger Jeremy Haas with 59% of the vote. Long Point and Pleasant Ridge townships had races with no incumbents. Matthew Mance defeated two other challengers for the highway commissioner post for Long Point. Mance had 54% of the vote. Brian Ruff had 33% and Randy Finck finished with 13%. Derek Stephens topped Anthony Brown with 54% of the vote in Pleasant Ridge. Cornell CCSD 426 residents said they do not want to raise the limiting rate for the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL). The referendum failed with 62% of voters saying no. The three incumbents for the Flanagan Village Board won their seats back. Kim Wargo was the top vote-getter with 33%. Terrence Sullivan and Kristy Dodge each collected 25% of the vote. Challenger Allison Gray got 17%. In Forrest, three incumbents faced two challengers for the three open village trustee seats and came out victorious. Keith Beal was the top vote-getter with 26%. Incumbents Robert Haab and Ronald Steidinger finished with 24% and 19%, respectively. Brad Brucker (17%) and Brittany Steidinger (13%) were the challengers. Erich Murphy is a reporter for the (Pontiac) Daily Leader. He can be reached at emurphy@ This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Election: Here's who won local races in Livingston County
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Election 2025: A look at 12 contested races, 3 referendum questions in Livingston County
Results from the April 1 Consolidated Election will bring new looks to area governing bodies, including the election of a new mayor for Pontiac and new faces to area boards and other leadership positions. Here is a look at upcoming contested races in Livingston County. This is a race of nine candidates for four available seats on the board for Prairie Central CUSD 8. Board president John Wilken and Board member Brian Plenert are seeking re-election. The challengers are Dalton Campbell, Jared Donley, Ashley Fehr, Andrew Jolly, Amanda Kestner, Joe Moreland and Michael Reiners. Current board members Ted Bachtold and Corey Steffen are not seeking re-election. The board for Dwight's Common School District 232 has five candidates vying for the four seats on the ballot. Lori Bowman and Marc Ellis are incumbents seeking re-election. Brad Hansen, Ryan Kodat and Timothy Misener are the challengers. The El Paso-Gridley CUSD 11 includes much of southwestern Livingston County. The board race had four candidates seeking three seats. Theresa Miller and Bradley Griffin are incumbents seeking re-election. The challengers are Nathan Hodel and Benjamin Kingdon. The Cornell CCSD 426 School Board is unique in that five members must come from an incorporated area of the district and four come from unincorporated portion of the district. There is no election for the incorporated seats, but current Board President Marilea Groves and incumbents Troy Hart and Mark Wichman and challengers Jacob Jones, Philip Kelly and Samuel Trainor are the six candidates from the unincorporated area are vying for four seats. For the second time in five months, the Prairie Central CUSD 8 board is asking for residents in the district to approve a referendum involving the building of a new grade school in Fairbury, as well as updating the high school, junior high and upper elementary buildings in Fairbury and Forrest. This will also involve the closing of pre-K-1 schools in Chatsworth and Chenoa. This time, the board is asking for $38 million in bonds. The $40 million referendum failed in November. Cornell CCSD 426 residents are being asked to approve to raise the limiting rate for the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) by an amount equal to 0.27905% above the limiting rate for 2023. This would make the rate 3.80545% of the equalized assessed value (EAV) of taxable property for the 2025 levy. Residents in Sullivan Township, which includes Cullom, are being asked two questions — accept a new tax rate proposal and accept an increase in limiting rate proposal. The tax rate is for cemetery fund purposes with an additional tax of 0.05% of the EAV of taxable property. The limiting rate of PTELL is in question as residents are being asked to approve an increase in the amount equal to 0.05% above the limiting rate to provide control and maintenance of township cemeteries for levy year 2025 and for levy years thereafter. Mayor Richard Runyon is running for re-election. He is being challenged by Michael Ifland. Allison Gray is the challenger for one of the three open seats on the village board. Incumbents Kristy Dodge, Terrence Sullivan and Kim Wargo are running to keep their seats. Five candidates are running for three open seats on the Forrest village board. Incumbents Ronald Steidinger, Robert Haab and Keith Beal are running to keep their seats while Brad Brucker and Brittany Steidinger are challenging for a seat. Incumbent Mark Yoder is being challenged by Matthew Steidinger for the township's road commissioner position. There is no incumbent for road commissioner of Long Point Township, leaving Randy Finck, Matthew Mance and Brian Ruff in a three-way faceoff for the position. Incumbent Jacob Medema is facing the challenge of Joseph Donald Highland for road commissioner. Derek Stephens and Anthony Brown are running against each other for the road commissioner position. Robin Bohm is the incumbent for road commissioner, but Jeremy F. Haas is posing a challenge. Erich Murphy is a reporter for the Pontiac Daily Leader. This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Election 2025: Schools, townships highlight Livingston County ballots
Chicago Tribune
11-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Northbrook School Districts 27 and 28 seek voters' OK April 1 for millions in upgrades
Two Northbrook elementary school districts are seeking funds from taxpayers, and voters will have a chance to say yes or no in the April 1 Cook County Consolidated Elections. Northbrook School Districts 27 and 28 each have a referendum on the ballot that, if approved, will increase property taxes for the purpose of funding millions of dollars in school infrastructure improvements. Northbrook District 27 Northbrook School District 27, which is located in the northwest corner of the village, is asking voters to approve the establishment of a debt service extension base, also known as DSEB. The referendum reads: 'Shall the debt service extension base under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law for Northbrook Elementary School District Number 27, Cook County, Illinois, for payment of principal and interest on limited bonds be established at $2,655,099 for the 2025 levy year and all subsequent levy years?' If approved, property taxes paid to the district will increase in order to generate an additional $2.7 million annually for the school district. According to District 27, the owner of a $600,000 home can expect their taxes paid to the school district to increase by about $422. While most school districts in Illinois already have a DSEB established in order to levy taxes for paying off loans or bond debt, District 27 does not, said Superintendent John Deiter. 'Once we have a DSEB established, it's something our district will always have,' he said in an explanation of the referendum on the district's website. Previously, the district addressed its infrastructure needs through its budget, Deiter said. The budget is largely dependent on existing property taxes that are levied each year. 'We're at a point now that, with so many needs coming up at once, we are missing this option of a DSEB and feel it's time to ask for that,' he said. The district plans to use the additional tax dollars to address infrastructure and safety needs at its three schools. This includes roofing and HVAC replacements, electrical system upgrades, police-accessible security cameras and other safety upgrades, and upgraded classroom technology and wireless infrastructure, according to the district. Additional plans include the following. Hickory Point School. Plans call for constructing four classrooms for early childhood, special education and daycare, and to create additional multi-use space within the school for physical education, lunch and after-school programming, referendum information states. Wood Oaks Junior High School. More lanes will be added for student drop-off and more parking spaces will be created, according to the district. The citizens pro-referendum committee 'Yes to Improve Safety & Learning in District 27' was created and filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections on Feb. 18. No financial contributions had been recorded as of early March. Additional information about the referendum can be found at Northbrook District 28 In Northbrook School District 28, which covers the northeast corner of the village and consists of three elementary schools and one junior high, voters are being asked to approve a $94.9 million bond referendum to pay for renovations of three schools and the construction of a new school building. If approved, property taxes would increase in order to pay off the bonds. The increase for a home valued at $500,000 is calculated at approximately $630 per year over the 25-year life of the bonds, the district said. If approved, the district plans to replace Meadowbrook School at an estimated cost of $56 million. A new, two-story building will be constructed behind the existing school, which would remain open during construction, according to the district. Other schools will undergo various renovations, fire alarm upgrades and security improvements. At Greenbriar School, plans also call for building a new classroom wing behind the gym and building a new cafeteria and flexible auditorium, stage and commons area where the existing classroom wing along Greenbriar Lane is located. Updated playgrounds, new parking north and east of the school, and turning the existing multipurpose room/cafeteria and adjacent classrooms into a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) lab and music and art classrooms is proposed as well. New cafeterias and flexible space are also proposed for Westmoor School and Northbrook Junior High. In total, the estimated cost of the projects is $115 million. In addition to the $94.9 million bond issue, the district plans to use $20 million in operating funds on hand to pay for the remaining improvements, officials said. 'If funding is approved, then the district will work with architects to engage staff, students and the community to design a new Meadowbrook School and pursue more detailed drawings for the additions mentioned,' said Chief School Business Official Jessica Donato in a District 28 podcast discussing the referendum. If the referendum does not pass, officials will need to reevaluate district priorities, said Superintendent Jason Pearson, also during a podcast episode. 'Some of the space is limited at our schools and it's really impacting our educational programming,' he said. 'We will have to evaluate whether or not to continue that programming, shift priorities or change the way we deliver programming.' A citizens committee formed in support of the referendum had raised $16,000 as of March 6, according to contributions reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections. The bulk of the donations—$10,000—were contributed by Itasca-based DLA Architects, the firm hired by District 28 to complete the 10-year facilities master plan identifying the building improvements in the referendum plan.
