New Steering Committee Discusses School Concerns

by Greg Cryns
Richmond Report correspondent
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Earlier this year school superintendent George Zimmer mailed a letter to the residents of Richmond and Spring Grove. That letter expressed his deep concern that new housing developments in the area will put an extreme
financial strain on school budgets. He suggested that the village boards hold a meeting to hear school concerns.

On August 14, 2002, the village boards of the two towns held a joint meeting where a decision was reached to send a letter of invitation to the school authorities to meet and discuss impact fees as they relate to the school district as a whole.

On August 29, 2002, the village boards met with the school boards at Richmond High School. It was agreed that a Steering Committee consisting of members of both boards and the village presidents would be appointed.

On September 16, 2002, the first meeting of the Steering Committee convened. Though tension was created over the last few months when the school boards asked to be included in development decisions, the general tone of the meeting was positive and not argumentative. Both village and school board members put forth constructive criticisms and concerns. Its members include school Superintendents Zimmer and Reisen, village Presidents Brusek and Martens, and board members Dave Delgatto, Dave Oelert, Dennis Zarnsdorf, Jim Haskens, Cindy Holtz, Mark Eisenberg, Dan Vetter, Del Houghton.

Referring to setting up a protocol for the meetings, Spring Grove Village President Martens said, "We are treading on new territory."

MISSION STATEMENT

Committee member Mark Eisenberg said, "We need to set a common ground between the villages and the schools in order to obtain fair and equitable impact fees from developers." Superintendent Zimmer suggested that the discussions include the annexation agreements as well as impact fees. "We need to open a line of communication between the villages and schools," he said. Superintendent Reisen added that the schools need to know exactly what impact fees can be used for. Brusek noted that there could be a discrepancy between the annexation fees and those required by village ordinances.

Village board members generally agreed that schools need to be more accountable for their expenses.

Hiring a Consultant

A major area of disagreement is whether a consultant should be hired to help the committee make its decisions. Hourly rates of $250 for a consultant are
commonplace. Another option is to rely only on the advice of the village and school attorneys. But Zimmer noted attorneys are required to represent the interests of their clients alone and he strongly suggested that outside experts would be the best way to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. "An expert would give us some direction and options," he said. Reisen added, "No one wants to spend a great deal of money." Board member Holtz is opposed to hiring a consultant. "It is hard to know who is really an expert," she said.

Eisenberg said, "The Spring Grove board was not keen on spending money for a consultant." Brusek echoed that statement for the Richmond board. Martens suggested that everyone put together a list of what they would ideally like to see happen and bring in the experts after that.

PROPER USE OF IMPACT FEES & ACCOUNTABILITY OF SCHOOLS

Reisen said his biggest concern right now is just how large the schools will need to be in the future. His goal is to put an addition on the high schoolwithout requiring a new referendum. Brusek said he was confident that the impact fees would cover the addition to the high school.

Eisenberg said, "Can we use the impact fees for bricks and mortar (school buildings)? Is this entirely legal?" Richmond allows schools to use impact fees to build new additions and buildings. Currently Spring Grove allows only the purchase of land.

Brusek is concerned about the legality of impact fees in general. He noted that Crystal Lake is now being sued by developers. "We need a firm legal opinion," he said. "There are varied opinions about annexation agreements and we don't need legal loopholes in the agreements. If we determine that we can get more impact fees then our responsibility is to return the money to the taxpayers (not just the schools)."

It was suggested that impact fees be determined by the number of bedrooms in new houses. But Eisenberg pointed out that smaller houses often generate more children entering the schools. "We see the empty nesters building larger houses in Spring Grove," he said. "It's not fair to penalize them." Holtz pointed out that Crystal Lake imposes a flat $5,000 impact fee per house, but according to Brusek they can do that because they are a home-rule community. Vetter is very concerned about the risk of lawsuits over impact
fees. Zimmer would like the committee to validate the statistical numbers related to the number of children brought in by developments with a second source of information.

Regarding accountability of the schools, according to village board member Eisenberg the impact fees are not intended to pay electric bills and for computers, but only for buildings. He wants the school boards to explain exactly what constitutes "capital expenditures" in their reports. "The village board felt defensive when the (Zimmer) letter was mailed to the community," said Eisenberg. Zimmer replied that the schools will provide
whatever reports are needed in the future. "Our books are open," he said. "Just give us a list of what you want." Reisen added, "We're not spending a dime (on the high school) right now. We're saving for a new building." Eisenberg said, "We're here to give you the tools that you need."

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Lynn Hunter questioned the idea of creating a boiler plate agreement for developers. She noted that each development is different and that fees and restrictions must not be applied equally.

John Drummond said, "Villages have different formulas to determine impact fees. I suspect that Spring Grove houses are larger than those proposed for Richmond. The end number, the impact fees, have been greater than what Richmond will produce. We need to know the averages for each village. Actually Richmond is getting a good deal from Spring Grove. We need to know how fast the growth will come.  Villages should submit a forecast of the number of homes coming in so the schools can make good plans."

Eisenberg's opinion is that charging per bedroom would be better than charging on a square foot basis. But board member Haskens felt that it is difficult to tell between a bedroom and a den. Robert Leggets of Spring Grove said, "I agree with flat rates like Crystal Lake. We need to interview other towns which are our size before we make a decision." Another Spring
Grove resident agreed with Zimmer that a consultant is needed to minimize the risks, but acknowledged that this could be an expensive.

According to Zimmer student enrollment has decreased since last year. The cost to build a new grade school would be $20 million in five years. "The bottom line is that if the impact fees do not cover the cost of a new
school," he said, "then we will need a another referendum. Spring Grove grade school has 419 students with a capacity of 500. Richmond Grade School now has 550 students which is close to capacity. It will be three to four years before a referendum might be needed."

According to Reisen the high school has 630 students this year and will rise to 730 next year. The high school was built for a maximum of 800 students with provisions to expand to 1200. "We're already seeing the need for more classrooms, especially in the science areas," he said. "My worst fear is to go to a referendum prior to paying the current tax bill for the existing
school." Residents will not begin to see the tax impact on the current high school until the year 2006.

It was agreed that the date of the next meeting would be Monday, October 7, 2002, at 6:00 pm.
 

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