Finally, the school board at Oak Park and River Forest High School has chosen a plan to replace the obsolete swimming pools at the school. It is Plan B — the knock-down-the- parking-garage-and-build-a-new-parking-garage-and-a-pool-on-the-same-piece-of-land plan.
Two important caveats here:
Before long there is going to be a Plan B.2 that will reportedly take several million off the current price tag of $54 million. That is the plan that the board will actually accept and base its November referendum wording on.
While the pool has been dominating this endless and ridiculous process, there are costly additional educational upgrades built into this giant price tag — a large increase in classrooms for performing arts and other classroom upgrades and a redo of the boys’ gym locker room. That should not be overlooked in the raucous campaign certain to come.
Here’s what we like about the current plan:
It’s a plan. It is the official position of the school. It will lead to a property tax-hike referendum in November and citizens will be able to vote. Win or lose, Oak Park and River Forest voters had to ultimately get to this point and the outcome will be clarifying.
As we long have, the Journal supports the approximate split of paying for a necessary new pool facility by spending down the school’s excessive cash reserve but also by taxing future users of the pool through a voter-approved bond issue. It makes no sense for current taxpayers to pay out-of-pocket for an asset that will be in use for a half-century and hopefully more. Future taxpayers should also pay, so financing a good portion of this costly project is the responsible path.
We also believe that an expensive plan — this would be Plan A — to simply rebuild the two currently obsolete and nearing the century mark pools is shortsighted.
While there is a highly and effectively organized citizen opposition to the newly adopted plan, we’d urge voters to have an open mind during the coming campaign. Let the high school make its argument.
Unless you are in that vocal minority that fundamentally opposes any new pool on the grounds that swimming is an expensive hobby sport for so-called elites, unless you have reached the more reasonable conclusion that property taxes in the villages have simply reached a level that is unsustainable, then listen to proponents and opponents equally.
The process of getting to this point has been gruesome. All the good that the previous school board did a few years back in abating a portion of property taxes over two years as a way to reduce the crazy-high reserve has been squandered by perpetual missteps in coming to an actual decision of a plan.
Now, though, there is a plan. There will be a vote. And that is as good an outcome as this process could cough up.