I don’t buy the argument about exposing D96 to lawsuits – the total cost of the crossing guards is $83,000, of which $17,000 is covered by D96. Thus, there is an 80% - 20% split of costs already, and nobody has sued D96 over it. Plus, if the differences in taxing district boundaries should have any bearing on the issue, D96 should pay a pro-rata share to North Riverside and Brookfield to help those municipalities out rather than using it as a foil to reject any further responsibility in getting students to our public schools safely. For D96 to claim that the responsibility of this essential service rests squarely with the Village is a red herring – just look at all the school districts around the country that provide busing services to get students to and from schools.
The hypocrisy is what gets me. The D96 school board that keeps making claims of fiscal stewardship and which, in its own words, has been “carefully managing education funds”, is the same board that gave its superintendent the 20% retroactive pay raise last year, even though state legislation has been adopted with the express intent to stop such actions. This irresponsible gift alone will cost IL taxpayers over $600,000 over the duration of the superintendent’s retirement. The D96 board wants to be completely separate from the Village Board, yet doesn’t even flinch when it comes to burdening IL taxpayers, i.e. a different taxing district, with the outrageous bill for their irresponsible behavior.
Unfortunately, the crossing guard issue also is a sad reminder of the state of affairs in Riverside politics in general. The cancerous grip of partisanship on the Village Board has made it all but impossible for reasonable and spirited debate of issues, solely based on their merits, to occur. The D96 Board, on the other hand, lacks leadership, credibility, and has a pulse that is no longer registering.
I am continually proven wrong about my naïve belief that different taxing districts would actually see the benefit of starting to communicate with each other in a meaningful way. Consider this: both taxing districts are playing hardball over a $66,000 expense while agreeing that crossing guards are an essential service to Riverside, all the while their constituents, for practical purposes, are one and the same. It comes out of the same pocketbooks, no matter who “wins” or “looses”. Right now, everybody loses. Dumb.
A fair and equitable solution, if there is a political will by our elected officials, is still possible, and quite simple to achieve. Instead of the Village Manager and School Superintendent, both board presidents could get together, and principally agree that the costs for Crossing Guards should be shared. JUST LIKE THEY DO NOW. Then, pick the split. 50-50 is typically a good start.
For D96, that would be a premium of $24,500. Compare that to the millions of dollars the community agreed to give the District when it was calling for help in 2004. Today, the Village is calling for help.
Posted Thursday May 20, 2010 23:26
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