Belleville 201 School Board OKs sale of $18M bonds. What will they be used for?
Belleville Township High School District 201 approved the sale of $18 million in working cash bonds to finance various improvements at its high school campuses.
At Tuesday evening’s board meeting, the district’s board of education unanimously approved a resolution to sell the bonds and to use property taxes to repay them.
Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Dustin Bilbruck said the bonds could help pay for a broad range of projects, including roof work and brick work at Belleville East, school buses, any additional safety initiatives the board may approve, replacing the artificial turf at the Belleville West stadium, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning work at multiple buildings.
Bilbruck said the district will close on the transaction next week.
The bond issuance also helps prepare for the possibility that the state’s contribution to the district’s budget next fiscal year could remain stagnant, Bilbruck previously told the BND. Gov. J.B. Pritzker will present his Illinois fiscal year 2027 budget Wednesday, which will then kick off months of negotiations before a final budget bill is passed.
As Capitol News Illinois reported, high demand in other areas of the state budget, with minimal or no growth in state revenues projected, threaten how much the state can allocate to education overall.
At December’s regularly scheduled board meeting, the board approved a resolution of intent to issue a maximum of $18 million in working cash bonds. The board was able to proceed with the bond issuance through backdoor referendum.
Under this process, district residents can force a referendum by submitting a petition signed by 10% of the district’s registered voters within 30 days of a notice being published in the local newspaper. This did not occur, allowing the board to proceed. The board still held a hearing as part of the bond issuance process.
Bilbruck also previously noted the board considered the potential bond issuance when constructing its requested 2025 property tax levy, which it approved at its December meeting. The district hopes to collect $43,284,528 from property taxpayers within its boundaries. The levy includes an increase of less than 1% over the previous year’s debt service category.
Often, when issuing bonds, districts spread payments over extended periods to minimize the annual burden to taxpayers. Bilbruck said this has helped the district keep its tax rate consistent.