Voters in the Moraine Valley Community College district voted Tuesday night in favor of a $115 million bond sale which would be used to “build, equip, renovate, and repair” buildings on campus to expand the school’s student capacity in high-demand career and technical education programs.
With all 237 precincts in the school district, complete but unofficial results showed 77,912 “yes” votes against only 30,338 “no” votes.
The six programs highlighted in the referendum request were noted to have grown between 25% and 120% in the last five years, with EMT having the largest growth rate, with a 25% increase in the last year alone. All of the programs also represent career areas that are anticipated to see future job growth.
The new buildings that the referendum would create could support an additional 20% enrollment in the technical education programs, and provide new equipment and technology for the students in their training, according to MVCC.
While the new bond issue represents a significant amount of debt the college would be taking on, officials argued that the impact on taxpayers will not be significant, since a previous bond issue and its related debt is set to expire at the end of the year.
In its proposal, the school argues that it is an asset to the local community, not just for the service it provides, but because it contributes $1.1 billion to the regional economy each year and employs over 12,000 people.