Voters in District 204 say 'yes' to raising cap on tax levy

<p class="News">Here's one distinction for Community Consolidated School District 204 in Pinckneyville &#8211; theirs was the only tax hike referendum in southern Illinois that passed Tuesday night.

<p class="News">District 204 voters gave the initiative a better than 2 to 1 endorsement, passing it 140 votes to 66 votes, according to unofficial totals from Perry County.

<p class="News">Superintendent Jerry Travelstead and the school board promised voters that if they gave permission to tax at a higher rate in the education fund, they would lower the tax rates in other funds to compensate. The net effect, they said, would be a zero increase.

<p class="News">Ultimately, it came down to trust.

<p class="News">"It's a great thing for our district," Travelstead said Tuesday night. "It's what we need financially, to stay where we are at (educationally), without raising taxes."

<p class="News">Travelstead said he and the school board worked hard to explain to people that even though they were voting to raise their taxes, the district pledged to lower other tax rates in the district to make the hike essentially a wash.

<p class="News">"And that's just what we're going to do," Travelstead said.

<p class="News">The school district prepares and passes its property tax levy in the fall, to be collected through 2018 property tax bills.

<p class="News">The education fund is by far the biggest fund a school district has, and it is responsible for paying teachers and buying classroom materials. State law prohibits a school district to raise the "cap" on the education fund without a referendum.

<p class="News">District 204 can't just shift funds from other funds into the education fund, which would blow the "cap" off. In the fall, as it discusses the next levy, the school board will decide which other funds it will decrease the levy for.

<p class="News">Travelstead said for years this school board has insisted it will not raise taxes.

<p class="News">"Our board has been adamant in the five years since I got here we are going to operate with what we have," he said. "We could have been raising the (total) levy every year, which we haven't been doing," he added. "They are doing a great job."

<p class="News">Travelstead said District 204 is about 75 percent funded with local property taxes, while the other 25 percent is state funding. State funding can generally be moved into whatever funds the district deems necessary, but property tax money is more tightly controlled.

<p class="News">District 204 has about 150 children in its K-8 school. Its graduates go on to Pinckneyville High School.

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