Lawsuit Filed Against District 97 Referendum

A lawsuit filed by an anti-tax group aims to overturn the results of Oak Park Elementary School District 97's controversial tax hike referendum.

The complaint, filed Tuesday in Cook County court by resident Noel Kuriakos and Taxpayers United of America, names all seven members of the District 97 school board as defendants.

At at center of the lawsuit is an allegation that language appearing on the actual ballot question misled voters. The referendum passed, .

Weeks before the April 5 election, the state's equalizer — a number the Illinois Department of Revenue determines each year to ensure that Cook County assessments are in line with assessments from across the state — wasn't factored into the ballot question's wording by District 97's law firm, who drew it up.

Whether or not the state's equalizer has to be included on ballot language is up for dispute. The law firm, Chapman and Cutler, has said it's not necessary. But legislation introduced in Springfield this month could require its inclusion of future ballots, according to Wednesday Journal.

Still, Kuriakos and the anti-tax group say its exclusion means voters weren't presented with an accurate estimate of the tax hike's impact on residents' wallets. According to the complaint:

This language substantially failed to inform the voters of the estimated effect of the tax increase on their property if the referendum were to succeed...Despite knowing that the ballot language was misleading and understated the amount of the tax increase, the District and its members unanimously and intentionally proceeded with the referendum using the misleading language.

District officials have acknowledged the confusion, but say the figures they used to inform residents — the estimated impact of the tax hike would amount $38 per $1000 on a property tax bill — are accurate.

"While we have a difference of opinion on what is required to be on the ballot," ElSaffar and District 97 Board President Peter Traczyk, "what we have and will continue to agree upon is that the increase in the limiting rate that the district is seeking on April 5, 2011 will cost taxpayers $38 per $1000 on a property tax bill."

The complaint also asks that the school board members to pay "from their private funds" to defend the suit.

On Tuesday, Traczyk told Oak Leaves "Anyone can bring a lawsuit, but it doesn't mean it has merit. ... We're protected by a safety clause, meaning should any calculation in the language of the referendum be incorrect, it does not invalidate the referendum's results."