Berwyn Township Meeting Schedule

[OakParkSpartan]

  Years ago people in Cicero questioned having two seperate park districts. The answer was because of their size difference that as seperate districts one is eligable for certain programs and grants because of its small size,the other because its so large. If they merged into one they would lose some funds as one big district. I don't know if theres as big a difference in size in the two Berwyn districts where the same reason would apply.

I'm sure that is part of the folklore of why Berwyn can't have 1 park district.  But why does a community like Oak Park only have one?  Actually, I think their parks might be part of the city, not a separate entity.

[Bonster]

  Years ago people in Cicero questioned having two seperate park districts. The answer was because of their size difference that as seperate districts one is eligable for certain programs and grants because of its small size,the other because its so large. If they merged into one they would lose some funds as one big district. I don't know if theres as big a difference in size in the two Berwyn districts where the same reason would apply.

I've read that here before, actually, with regards to the Berwyn Recreation Dept.

But by that logic, Chicago should have about 34 Park Districts.

[Bonster]

... 2 school districts, etc.  Do we NEED such redundancy? (Other than the need for patronage positions...)

 The arguments given by some people in District 98 for not merging the school districts are:

1. "Financial stability" - District 98 has had a balanced budget for a number of years. The counter arugment is that District 98 is forced into a balanced budget because it has maxed out its debt, has a higher debt ratio and has a higher tax rate)

2. Small districts are "cozier" - Having a district that is smaller in size will be theoretically "closer to the kids and parents"

3. Fear of neglect - There is a fear amoung some north Berwyn residnts that if there was a merge with south Berwyn, the school district would be dominated by south Berwyn and north Berwyn schools would be neglected

4. Sperlik lawsuit - Finally, (in a very loud whisper), some school board members will mention the Sperlik law suit against District 100 and state they don't want to have to pay out the large financial settlements expected out of the law suit.

Tony was mentioning to me one day, Ted, that it (combining elementary districts) had something to do with taxing bodies, at the county or state level? 
I was slightly inebriated at the time, but it sounded like it wasn't a simple thing to do, if not impossible.
You'd have to get the details from him...I don't want to muddle the message.

[Ted]

Tony was mentioning to me one day, Ted, that it (combining elementary districts) had something to do with taxing bodies, at the county or state level?  
I was slightly inebriated at the time, but it sounded like it wasn't a simple thing to do, if not impossible.
You'd have to get the details from him...I don't want to muddle the message.

 Tony is ALWAYS making excuses about why the school districts should not merge.  I am not sure what he is referring to.  The state is trying to encourage school districts to merge. They offer incentives such as paying any teacher salary differences for 4 years; offering $4,000 per certified employee as a one time "thank you for merging" lump sum after the merge; paying for any budget discrpencies that occur if a merge occurs.

 It is true that the two districts are different taxing bodies and when they merge, the new district creates its own tax rates for the education tax, the operations tax, the transportation tax, the IMRF tax, the working funds tax and other taxes.

  If there was a merge, people in south Berwyn would have to pay between $100 to $200 more in taxes while people in north Berwyn would see their taxes decrease.

 It is also true that the old debt stays with the old territory. So, if D98 and D100 were to merge, north Berwyn would still have to pay taxes to pay off the old D98 debt and south Berwyn would still have to pay taxes to pay off the D100 debt.

 But, other than that, I am not sure what the problem would be. And, I don't understand how that could be a state issue.

 Ted

[Bonster]

That was me suggesting possible county or state (with regards to taxing) not him. 
Again, I wasn't in the right frame of mind, so for any details you'd have to talk with him.

He presented more as a reason they cannot merge than an excuse why they should not merge.
He didn't sound like he was anti-consolidation, but that it wasn't as simple as D100 absorbing some new schools.

Interesting point about the old debt, though.