Palos Heights School District 128 Superintendent Jason Smit spoke regarding the school district’s upcoming referendum at the Palos Heights City Council meeting on Oct. 6.
The district has placed a referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot which would increase its tax rate “by an amount equal to 0.590% above the limiting rate for levy year 2024.”
Unless approved by taxpayers through a referendum, the limiting rate a district can charge on its tax levy is capped by the state of Illinois at 5% or the previous year’s Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. The CPI for 2025 was 2.7% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The requested new rate for the local tax levy would then amount to 3.095955% of equalized assessed property value.
Smit noted that this is the first time District 128 has ever asked for a limiting rate increase, and argued that it is necessary in order to finance the district’s day to day expenses, keep class sizes down, and maintain extracurricular programing options.
According to Smit, who has been with the district for 17 years but is only in his first year as superintendent, the district has seen a 28% increase in student enrollment in the past decade. Currently, the district serves over 800 students with approximately four sections of each grade level, averaging 21 students per section.
“As our enrollment has grown, so have the resources needed to support our students, however, in Illinois, additional students does not mean additional funding,” said Smit, who noted that of 18 similar-sized peer districts in the area, District 128 has the lowest level of state provided annual evidence-based funding, and also spends the least per student on average.
Currently, Smit said the district is operating at a deficit of $1.7 million annually. The increased tax rate would provide approximately $2.4 million in additional funds for the district annually.
The referendum question, which the district is asking people to vote “yes” on to approve the funding, states that the addition money would go towards “the purpose of providing educational programming and instruction, and operating, maintaining, and improving school buildings and facilities, and other school purposes.”
Smit said that if the referendum is not improved then the district will need to make “an additional $1 million in cuts” beyond the $1 million in “efficiency reductions” the district is already planning to make for the 2027-2028 school year.
Thad Paskert, a parent with three children attending district schools, is helping lead the Citizens for District 128 Referendum.
“I’m biased,” he said. “The district needs the money. If not approved, two things can happen. First, the state can take over and run the district. Or, the district can be forced to merge with a neighboring district.
“We have received positive feedback from residents, but I encourage people to vote ‘yes.'”
