D218 Board Member Bob Stokas Responds to Teacher's 'False Claims'

OAK LAWN, IL — I am writing in response to Kelli Mason’s recent letter to the Patch entitled, “In Support of Bill Christian for CHSD 218 School Board."

I serve on the CHSD 218 board along with Bill Christian, and our sub-districts are contiguous and serve the same neighborhoods and communities in Oak Lawn and Chicago Ridge.

In her letter, Mrs. Mason correctly states that I was the only 218 board member to vote against the 2020 property tax increase, which I have been proudly doing for almost my entire tenure on the board. She also correctly states that Bill Christian is a public-school teacher, but fails to disclose that she also is a public school teacher, and works for District 218. S o it shouldn’t be surprising that both she and Bill Christian are big proponents of school spending and property tax increases that take money out of your pockets and puts it into the District’s coffers.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Mason either doesn’t understand how budgets and levies work, or she wants you to believe Bill Christian doesn’t. Her letter makes repeated references to this being “a complex concept” where board members have to make “educated guesses”.

This is utter nonsense.

Budgeting for our district’s expenses is no different than the budgeting you do in your own lives. You figure out what your bills will be, based upon past history, adjust for changes you are aware of, and then determine how much money you need to earn (or borrow) to cover your expenses.

People who dismiss or avoid this important responsibility because it’s “too complex”, or “make educated guesses” about their situation, often end up going bankrupt.

In the case of CHSD 218, Bill Christian has pushed for and voted for maximum property tax levies for the entire time he has served on the 218 board. This practice is known as “balloon levying”, where instead of budgeting for what we “need”, we just “take” as much as we can.

And by “take” I mean from you and your property taxes, i n the midst of a pandemic that put millions out of work and closed thousands of businesses, which is particularly shameful.

Mrs. Mason actually described this practice very well when she referred to the District’s “voting on a maximum levy every year based on property values”. She cited the “difficulty” of not knowing how much property values “grow” every year as the reason that “educated guessing” is necessary.

In other words, she actually confirms that the District does not base our budget on the costs needed to run our schools, but instead on what we can TAKE from you based on the VALUE of your home.

This practice is what led to our District’s habit of over-taxing that negatively impacts taxpayers and provides no additional benefit to the students. How much over-taxing, you are probably wondering?

Consider this: District 218 has more than $73 MILLION dollars – of your money – sitting in bank accounts. That’s 62% of our annual operating budget, when best practices for schools in Cook County suggest between 15% and 25%.

Or this: In 2019 our District received a $5.8 million state grant that required – by law – a property tax reduction, and the District complied, saving taxpayers approximately $163 on a $200,000 home. BUT - the District will receive this additional $5.8 million every year until the states changes the aid formula, and instead of reducing your taxes again for 2020, the board voted to increase your taxes, by approximately $170 on a $200,000 home.

And Kelli Mason was correct in writing that I voted against this.

Responsible board members should continue to reduce property taxes as long as they receive this extra funding. Instead, our District will likely continue to take the extra $5.8 million – YOUR $5.8 million - and add it to our bank accounts. There will be zero benefits to the students, and a significant impact on our taxpayers, all to add money to the CHSD 218 vault.

Bill Christian is the longest tenured member of our District’s finance committee and he not only supports this practice but he proposes it each and every year.

In her letter Kelli Mason implies that Bill Christian’s challenger, Matt Heinlen, has an “agenda” that she and Bill Christian disagree with, and on this issue, she is also 100% correct!

Matt Heinlen believes like I do, that we should take only the amount of property taxes we need to run our schools efficiently and keep them strong. He believes, like I do, that we can reduce our spending without jeopardizing student achievement or laying off our valued employees.

We need board members who want both lower taxes and great schools; not members who just rubber stamp maximum tax levies.

That is why I am supporting Matt Heinlen in this important election and I encourage you to do the same unless you like paying more in property taxes than is necessary.

Bob Stokas
CHSD 218 Board Member
6th Sub-District