BUILDING A BETTER DISTRICT

A Movement By Citizens  Demanding Transparency, Accountability, and Community Engagement for Central CUSD 301/Burlington in the State of Illinois.Building A Better District is a taxpayer-led movement and is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, the Illinois State or Kane County Regional Board of Education, nor any individual school district, or administration/Board of Education. 

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HOW MUCH WOULD THE $224.6 MILLION REFERENDUM REALLY COST YOU?

  • We have all been paying off a bond debt from the construction of Country Trails Elementary and Prairie Knolls Middle School from 2006/2007.  The original bond debt before interest was $34 million.  That amount has been included in our tax bills for almost 20 years.  That debt is set to be paid off which would result in a significant tax savings for homeowners.   
  • When the district presents their "Less Than $10 A Month" pitch, they are talking about a NET increase to your tax bill by replacing the the old debt we've been paying for CT & PKMS with the new $224.6 Million bond debt in its place.  
  • This is NOT showing the community the true "GROSS tax impact" of the $224.6 million.
  • The tax calculator below is an attempt to give you an idea of  the TOTAL GROSS IMPACT of the 224.6 million on your annual taxes while also showing you what you would generally save if the $224.6 million referendum fails and the CT/PKMS debt is paid off and comes off our tax bill.  We recognize we need a solution to elementary space issues and possibly middle school space issues, dependent upon growth, however, we believe a $224.6 million new high school is NOT needed (confirmed by RSP & Associates' report), nor is it appropriate or sustainable financially for our community.  Better options exist and have not been explored.
  • It is the position of Building A Better District that the community should clearly understand the GROSS tax impact of the $224.6 million referendum on your property tax bill, separate and apart from the $34 million bond from 2006/2007.  

This calculator will be using the estimated 2024 tax amount that would go to D301 and offers two numbers:  one that assumes the $224.6 million referendum passes and one that assumes the $224.6 million referendum fails to pass and the CT/PKMS debt bond is paid off.  

This is not meant to be a projection of future taxes, but an estimation of what your taxes would look like in each of these two scenarios.

Please note: this calculator does NOT factor in the projected $25 million to $30 million increase in the district's annual operating budget that would come into play between 2027 and 2028 and add to our tax bill further.  That factor is actually the greater financial threat on top of the $224.6 million bond.  As of October 2024, the district has failed to produce a projected annual operating budget that includes the proposed new high school, the new programming promised, new staffing needed by 2028, and more.  This is a critical piece of information that should be shared before anyone votes for this referendum.  It has been requested a number of times and still has not been produced.

USING THE CALCULATOR

The Tax Savings Calculator takes you to web page.  Please have the most recent copy of your property tax bill ready as you will need the Net Taxable Value number from your bill. You can find your tax bill online:

  • Go to the Kane County Property Tax Inquiry page and locate your property.
  • Click on the year 2022 (as 2023 has not yet been assessed). 
  • Click the "Print Tax Bill" button to see your full tax bill.
  • From the boxes on the right hand side, locate the box "Net Taxable Val."  This is the amount you will use in our calculator.  Example of the bottom portion of the bill is in the image to the right.


Please note: the district's tax calculator is based off of Fair Cash Value.  Our calculator is based off of Net Taxable Value.  For this reason, there may be a slight variance between our numbers, however, like the district's calculator, this is for estimation purposes only and is not a guarantee.


About us

We are a local group dedicated to cultivating an empowered and engaged community of parents and taxpayers to build an environment of transparency, accountability, and communication within Central Community Unified District 301 (D301), representing the unified voice of the people for a successful and sustainable future.

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Building A Better District is a volunteer community group advocating for transparency, honesty, accountability, and community engagement from Central CUSD 301 in Burlington, IL.

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