A look at bond referendums for voters in four school districts

Voters in school districts in St. Charles, Algonquin, Oswego and downstate Mahomet-Seymour will decide whether to approve borrowing for facility improvements.

Voters in three Illinois school districts will decide Nov. 3 whether to allow borrowing for capital projects.

A bond referendum gives voters the say on whether a school district can borrow for major capital projects, such as room renovations, building additions and safety upgrades.

School districts generally repay these bonds with property taxes. While a school board determines whether to place a referendum on the ballot, how much it wants to borrow and how the money will be spent, the district cannot issue the bonds without voter approval.

Here is what voters will decide for school districts in St. Charles, Algonquin and downstate Mahomet-Seymour:

St. Charles Community Unit School District 303:

The district’s board voted 6-1 Aug. 10 to place a $282.5 million bond referendum on the November ballot. The district covers parts of Kane and DuPage counties.

The money would fund 16 projects. The bonds would be repaid over 25 years and would increase property taxes by $645 annually on a $500,000 home, estimates Raymond James, a financial advisory firm hired by the district. The median property tax bill is $7,382 in Kane County and $8,007 in DuPage.

The proposal includes districtwide infrastructure upgrades, expanded career and technical education facilities at the high schools, improvements to athletic fields and to playgrounds at the district’s elementary schools and new classrooms at three elementary schools.

The biggest project is a new $62 million fieldhouse at St. Charles North High School despite the Communitywide Education Facilities Committee ranking this as the third-least important project on the list the group presented to the board earlier this year.

Community Unit School District 300 (Algonquin):

The CUSD 300 board voted unanimously July 21 to place a $355.5 million bond referendum on the November ballot for voters in the district, which is in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago and covers parts of Kane, McHenry, Cook and DeKalb counties. The proposal, known as Plan C, received 54.8% support from survey respondents during the district’s community engagement process earlier this year.

The referendum would increase the district’s property taxes by $101 a year for the owner of a $400,000 home. The funding would support 26 projects in the district.

Projects include classroom additions and renovations, safety and security upgrades, stadium and performing arts improvements at all three high schools, a new gymnasium at Hampshire High School and construction of a districtwide Career and Technical Education Center.

The district has said a project-by-project cost breakdown will be posted on its website soon.

Oswego Community Unit School District 308:

The district’s board voted 6-1 Aug. 10 to place a $317 million bond referendum on the November ballot. The money would go to facility improvements and maintenance in the district, which covers parts of Kendall, Kane and Will counties.

The plan would dedicate money to infrastructure improvements across all 22 schools without a direct tax increase. The district says that even if the referendum is approved, a taxpayer with a home valued at about $300,000 would pay $100 less in 2028 because of a lowering of the debt service tax rate.

Mahomet-Seymour Community Unit School District 3:

The district’s board voted unanimously Aug. 3 to place an $84 million bond referendum on the November ballot for voters in the district just northwest of Champaign-Urbana. The referendum would not increase the district’s property tax rate, in part because existing debt will expire.

The plan would fund construction of a new junior high school to address overcrowding at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School. In a community survey on facilities planning for the long term, 80.2% supported the option of just building the new school.

Voters weight referendums amid high property taxes

The referendums come as taxes and the economy remain top concerns for Illinois residents. More than half of respondents in a recent M3 Strategies poll for the Illinois Policy Institute ranked high taxes among the state’s top two issues in a list of seven.

In 2024, Illinois tied with New Jersey for the highest average effective homeowner property tax rate —1.88% of value, more than double the national average of 0.86%.