The Mahomet-Seymour School Board approved language for the district tax referendum that will appear on the June 28 ballot Monday night.
The question will read:
“Shall the Board of Education of Mahomet-Seymour Community Unit School District Number 3, Champaign and Piatt Counties, Illinois, build and equip a school building to replace the Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School Building on a different site owned by said School District, build and equip a transportation facility to replace the existing transportation facility, build and equip additions to and alter, repair and equip existing school buildings, improve sites and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $97,900,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?”
The 20-year commitment will result in property owners seeing a 20-plus-percent increase in the portion of their property tax allocated to the Mahomet-Seymour School District.
According to a calculator Stifel provided, a homeowner with
- a house of market value at $150,000 would see a $493 annual tax increase;
- a house with a market value of $200,000 would see a $679 annual tax increase;
- a house with a market value of $250,000 would see a $866 annual tax increase;
- a house with a market value of $300,000 would see a $1053 annual tax increase;
- a house with a market value of $400,000 would see a $1426 annual tax increase;
- a house with a market value of $500,000 would see a $1,799 annual tax increase;
- a house with a market value of $750,000 would see a $2,733 annual tax increase;
- and a house with a market value of $1,000,000 would see a $3,66 annual tax increase
on the $95 to $100 million dollar referendum.
With that additional funding, according to the question, Mahomet-Seymour plans to construct a new junior high building on approximately 30-acres south of Middletown Prairie, a bus barn and improvements, including classroom space, to Middletown Prairie, Lincoln Trail and Mahomet-Seymour High School as funds allow.
Kevin Heid, Managing Director of Public Finance at Stifel, said that the district would be tied to the specifics within the question, including building a junior high and a transportation facility, along with placing the building on a different site than it currently resides.
“The more specific it is, the more you have to live up to the terms,” he said. “So if you say a certain size addition, if you say you’ll remodel. If you use broader phrases, then you’re allowed more, more flexibility.”
Heid added that BLDD Architect Damien Schlitt had not done the detailed design work for the buildings, and that inflation is currently at its highest point since the early 1980’s.
Board member Colleen Schultz said that asking taxpayers for additional tax dollars by a substantial amount without being able to definitely address the growing need for classroom space throughout the district was concerning.
“Mahomet is a town where a lot of people are blessed,” she said. “But for people who are in the middle class or below, a 20-percent per year increase in property taxes really is significant.
“And so I don’t agree that we should ask people to sacrifice unless we can be sure we can solve this issue for all of our students.”
For some, Schultz said, the increase is a choice between paying their taxes and feeding their family.
Schultz said that because the question notes a new transportation facility specifically and not the additions to Middletown Prairie, Lincoln Trail and Mahomet-Seymour High School, she fears that if bids come in higher than the $57 million projected for the junior high, the transportation facility will take precedence over additional space.
“We have an urgent need to provide classroom space for all of our students, in all of our buildings,” she said. “And so we haven’t had that great of a track record with this building (space in Middletown Prairie). With the village prioritizing community growth and that wasn’t really considered, I just feel like I support all of our teachers and students having spacious and modern space. And I feel as though the wording on this ballot would only support a segment of our teachers while others in our community would just have to sacrifice.”
Schlitt said that once a company’s bid for a project is selected, the contractor is “on the hook” to deliver the product at that price. The only way out of their obligation is to “fold”, he said, but in that performance or surety bonds would kick in. In building phase I and II of Middletown Prairie, change orders, which are typical in any construction process, were also approved by the board throughout the process.
Schlitt said there are other ways to keep initial costs down, like not ordering furniture right away.
Higher labor and material costs, along with a shortage of workers, are driving construction prices. Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows construction costs went up by 17.5-percent year-over-year from 2020 to 2021, the largest spike in this data from year to year since 1970.
Board member Max McComb said that the board needs to balance being good stewards of people’s money while not borrowing too much.
“I think there’s been an attempt to be very responsible,” he said. “I think there’s an attempt to make sure we have what we need, and that we’re not going over the top.”
He added while there are no guarantees, he feels that the data that the district has provided has helped guide the decision to move forward.
Board member Ken Keefe, who did not vote in favor of the referendum in Feb, but voted yes to the question presented because it’s his intention to help that decision move forward, asked if the design team would come back to the board for their input should the referendum pass, and Schlitt said they would.
