Oswego School District 308 Referendum Projected To Fail

OSWEGO, IL — Voters living in the bounds of Oswego School District 308 voted today on a referendum on whether or not to raise the operating tax rate of the district. The referendum appeared on ballots in Will, Kendall and Kane County, worded as follows:

• Shall the limiting rate under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law for Oswego Community Unit School District Number 308, Kendall, Kane and Will Counties, Illinois, be increased by an additional amount equal to .30% above the limiting rate for school purposes for levy year 2018 and be equal to 5.32922% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property therein for levy year 2020?

While absentee ballots may alter the final vote count in the coming days, at this point the referendum is projected to fail. District Superintendent Dr. John Sparlin issued a statement on its failure only moments after this projection was made.

Voting 'yes' on this referendum was to support the proposition that the property tax rate in the district should be raised by 30 cents per $100, a .3% increase. Should the referendum have passed, school district officials said that they would have been able to use the additional funds to perform maintenance on school facilities and hire staff to reduce class sizes.

Since it failed, as it did the last time it was proposed, those same officials have warned that some athletic programs in the district may need to be altered, while other programs may be cut entirely.

Here are the results of the Referendum as of 11:05 p.m., with 100% of Kane County, 100% of Kendall County, and 100% of Will County reporting.

• Yes - 46.18% (7458 votes)
• No - 53.81% (8689 votes)
• Abstain - negligible (1 reported abstention)

With all votes tallied, the referendum is projected to fail, but absentee ballots may adjust the final vote counts.