ECC: $178M needed
By JENN WIANT - jwiant@nwherald.com
ELGIN – It might not be the best time to ask for money with unemployment at more than 8 percent in Illinois and businesses struggling around the region, but Elgin Community College will ask voters Tuesday to support a $178 million referendum.
The bonds would pay to build a Health Careers Center, a library, and a regional public safety training facility, as well as renovate and update existing college buildings.
Proponents of the measure say that it would create 4,000 local jobs and bring $530 million in construction business to local companies and workers.
Owners of a $100,000 home in Elgin Community College District 509, including those who live within District 300 boundaries, would pay an additional $9.57 a year in property taxes with the $6,000 homestead exemption if the referendum is successful. Owners of a $200,000 home would pay an additional $21.20 a year.
Sarah Evans, a spokeswoman for the college, said she was not aware of any organized opposition to the proposal. Several anonymous commenters to online news stories about the referendum opposed raising taxes for any reason, writing that the district should find other ways to cut costs or increase efficiency to free up funding.
The new buildings would allow the community college to expand its training programs for students going into health care and public safety careers, such as nurses, dental technicians, surgical technicians, police officers, firefighters and paramedics. More students are on the waiting list for health career training programs than are enrolled in those programs, according to ECC’s Web site at www.elgin.edu/vote.
The Web site also states that if the college does not upgrade its library to meet accreditation standards, the school could lose its status as an accredited community college.
Tuition increases in 2011, 2012 and 2013 will help pay to operate and maintain the new buildings, according to the site.
“This will create 4,000 new jobs. In this economy, we cannot afford not to vote ‘yes,’ ” said Kim Gilmore of Gilberts, an ECC alumna and chairman of communications for Friends of ECC, a group supporting the referendum.
“At [about] $23 a household, people are probably saying, ‘My gosh, that’s lunch.’ ”
