The seven board members of Wilmette School District 39 will not be named as individual defendants in a , according to an order by a Cook County judge.
At a county courthouse on Monday morning, Associate Judge Rita M. Novak granted a motion to dismiss each board member of District 39 from serving as an individual defendant in a lawsuit filed recently by Wilmette resident Herbert Sorock. Instead, the district will be named as the defendant.
A hearing for a temporary restraining order and injunction against the has also been set for June 23, giving the plaintiff a chance to avert the property tax hike before July 1.
“The judge made it clear that it's something that wasn't appropriate,” said the district's superintendent, Ray Lechner. Meanwhile, the district filed a motion to dismiss the legal battle entirely Monday morning.
“The whole lawsuit is frivolous,” Lechner added. “We hope that she [Judge Novak] will dismiss the rest of the case as well.”
Andrew Speigel, Sorock's lawyer, told Patch: “From a tax perspective, it seems odd that public officials would give themselves immunity to do whatever they want.”
Sorock, a member of Taxpayers United of America, wanted each board member to be named as a defendant in order to avoid having taxpayers foot the cost of the school district's legal counsel.
The heart of the lawsuit lies in District 39's successful campaign to increase property taxes by $6.375 million in order fill a projected $5.5 million spending gap. The with 63.1 percent of the vote on April 5, but Sorock contends the school board intentionally used wording in the ballot question to make the tax increase look less extreme.
The ballot cited the amount of the increase as $58 for every $1,000 of property taxes paid, or $58.80 increase for every $100,000 of the estimated value of a home.
According to a statement by Cook County Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar in March, if District 39 had factored in the the Illinois state equalizer, the figure would be $198.16 for every $100,000.
Wilmette's school board maintains that the language used was accurate.
Regarding Novak's decision, Sorock said he wasn't surprised and that the legal process “has to take its course. The judge has granted both parties time to prepare their briefs.”
Judge Novak will hear the motion for a temporary restraining order at 11:15 a.m. June 23 in courtroom 2402 at the Daley Center in Chicago. A status hearing has also been set for 10 a.m. June 9, but both parties need not appear if briefs are sent in by June 8.
The law is a donkey (or something like that), and if the D39 wants to find some legal nonsense to put out incorrect information, then I am all in favor Herb getting them to straighten up, by one means or another. The SERS Pension System in Illinois could default with just a hiccup from the State Legislature. Someone has to fix this mess...or we end up like Enron, Lehman, Madoff...
Never fear, we have an award winning educational program that will be sure to address that with magic whiteboards and solar cars...
The whiteboards were not paid for out of District 39's budget.
By the way, air-conditioning costs money. I think Herb should have to pay for it as a sanction for having brought his frivolous suit.
It's 84 in Zanazibar btw, perhaps our sister school in Tanzania can send us some tips on how to get our HVAC system up to grade.
Sensible people could come up with $48,000 to get us up to a 3rd World level of facilities. The trouble is finding sensible people, rather than union/political hacks to provide and education for our children.
School boards all over Illinois are captured by hacks and insiders. Our "first world" elections get us a bankrupt SERS Pension System and 3rd world HVAC system. Aside from this thread...has anyone even considered the effect of 96 degree temperatures on education?
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/316-Central-Ave-Wilmette-IL-60091/3376699_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-bubble-address} which provides historic home prices, homes assessments and taxes paid. Take the home currently on the market for $849,000 which Zillow prices at $738,000 based on current sales for comparable homes. Scroll down to the area which shows taxes paid 2003-2009 and home assessments. Note the 2006-07 increase in assessment which also saw a decrease in taxes. Then, in 2008-09 the home experienced a $13, 974 decrease in assessed value (which is NOT the same as “market value”) while also experiencing an increase in taxes. How can this be? It’s done with a “multiplier” in order to deliver an expected/entitled amount of tax revenue to the taxing bodies (schools, library, village). Taxing bodies are allowed a certain MAXIMUM levy—but as stated in the post above, the school does not have to take the MAXIMUM. As home values continue to decline, the multiplier can only work to deliver “so much” in additional tax revenue--the $198 amount. At some point, the limits (as set by this referendum) will provide a ‘cap” on the annual increase the district can legally levy—it’s called “tax to the max” which will be the $198. Stay tuned.
"How did we get from Herb Sorock's ridiculous lawsuit to air conditioners again?" I think it is the relationship of D39 tooting its horn about educating our children, maintaining our schools etc, vs. the reality that we have 3rd world facilities that D39 has failed to maintain and improve over the years. In my opinion, the lack of responsible adults in the education industry has got us into this condition.
Hey Margaret - so glad to see you can't stay away from the issues of Wilmette. So glad your husband's job transfer to another state has made you so happy that you just can't seem to let go of your former town. Here is a thought - let those of us who live here, pay taxes and stay involved in our schools on a daily basis make decisions. Oh wait... I think we did that with the referendum. Sour grapes and distraction do nothing for your cause but make you both look more and more ridiculous. Please keep it up - it only benefits your opponents.
Those of us "who live here, pay taxes and stay involved in our school on a daily basis" might want to look at the effects of such conditions on education, rather than pecking away at anyone who disagrees with you. Quite a few in our community want to write PR for the education system, without actually evaluating it.
I'm glad that Wilmette's education system is sparking great discussion on the site, but please let's keep the comments to constructive discussion. Personal attacks aren't allowed on the Patch sites. Thanks! Andrea
The whole school district needs to get its priorities straight. Early retirement programs, bloated administrations, curriculum development paper chases...don't do much of anything to educate our children.
Then we have the supposed former member, who doesn't even live here anymore, saying that we as voters aren't smart enough to understand what we voted for. I hold the electorate in a little higher regard. These ARE very complicated matters, and it was YOUR JOB (and is the current Board's job) to do homework and make the best decisions and recommendations on tax increase or no tax increase. I for one think the 60%+ who voted for it knew at least 2 things (i) their taxes were going up, and (ii) they were supportive of that. I hope you are happy with the equity value you made on your former Wilmette home.
It is a matter of priorities. Some people are interested in promoting early retirement programs for teachers and expanding curriculum development. Some people are interested in educating students and providing a safe environment for learning. The claim that the School Board may not be responsible for the physical condition of the school because your "pretty sure they inherited those" pretty much absolves our Board from any possible reproach. Adults can make better decisions than this.
When you write your checks, remember the actual increase is 3.3 times the number that was on the referendum (and read some of the silly comments above trying to deny that).