Peoria Pundit Calls 150 on Bonds

Peoria Pundit hits this one out of the park in his blog:

Retiring State Sen. George Shadid is torn over whether or not to try to override Gov. Blagojevich’s veto of legislation that would let the Public Building Commission raise taxes on behalf of Peoria School District 150 without benefit of a referendum.

“I don’t think we’re able to satisfy the governor because the governor has a very narrow definition, or a very conservative definition, of what a tax increase is,” said district treasurer Guy Cahill.

The school district’s position is that the legislation would not lead to a tax increase.

Rather, the district would replace old bonds with new bonds. As a result, the tax rate would hold steady, but people would pay that rate for a longer period of time. If the school district does not issue new bonds, the tax rate gradually would decrease starting in 2007.

Shadid said he is trying to get a consensus from community leaders about whether to attempt the veto override.

The senator says he normally would be completely in favor of helping out District 150, but too many people have told him they they just flat out do not trust the people in charge of the district these days.

My two cents: I am one of those people who just doesn’t trust District 150 these days. But I would be opposed regardless.

Let’s dispense with the “it’s not a tax increase because your tax bill is the same argument.”

Lets say you took out a car loan. The last payment was made in October and you owe no more money, your obligation is over. But the bank sends you a bill anyway for the exact same amount in November. You call them to ask what’s going on and they say you have no right to complain because it’s the exact same bill you got last month and it’s no increase in your financial obligation to the bank.

That’s exactly that District 150 wants to do. Folks, the district is retiring one debt and that means taxpayers’ obligation is over. State law prevents them from going into debt again without a voter referendum. Because trust for District 150 is at an all-time low, there is no way voters will approve. So, they want a state law to allow the city’s public building commission — the PBA — to have the power to issue bonds to help pay for District 150’s planned building spree without benefit of a referendum. And the backers of this plan are walking around telling folks it’s not a tax increase because the tax bill is going to be the same .. just like my hypothetical bank.

It’s a tax increase folks. Cahill knows it. He’s a money guy. He knows he’s feeding taxpayers a smooth line.

Don’t fall for this line.