Part 1: https://blnnews.com/2025/06/18/olympia-school-district-facts-part-1/
By: Diane Benjamin
The Olympia Schools superintendent sent 2 emails about the property tax error:
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From Part 1 – enrollment is decreasing. According to this story the District has been deficit spending for a decade: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-05-21/olympia-school-district-frustrated-by-error-that-led-to-incorrect-mclean-county-tax-bills
With 110 fewer students since 2018, why do they have deficits? According to Illinois Report Card, the district spends $18,000 per student. Multiple that by 110 fewer students = $1,980,000!
Side Note:
If you want to see how bad Illinois is screwing property owners in Illinois, Americans for Prosperity has an easy to use tool for comparing your taxes with other states: Property Tax Fight Illinois
That tool proves why people move out of Illinois. Try comparing yours to Indiana! The difference is staggering.
Dr. Laura O’Donnell is trying to blame the County for the billing error. She has responsibility too, keep reading I’ll prove it.
From Part 1, these numbers are reflected in the minutes of the property tax hearing:
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The County sends a document to each taxing body BEFORE property tax bills are created. Below is the document sent to Olympia, signed by the Superintendent, and returned to the County. All of the numbers in the far right columns at the top match the numbers from the Public Hearing. Note the bond levy was NOT in the minutes of the hearing. See the minutes here – No members of the public spoke. Did any even attend? Levy Public Hearing
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At the December meeting the schools board passed the same numbers: December 2, 2024 minutes
Why does Olympia think now they have the legal right to MORE money? The Board didn’t pass a higher levy. A higher levy was not presented at the Public Hearing either.
Tax rates are based on the requested levy. Olympia failed to pass a Tax Levy that reflected the tax rate they wanted. The County was expected to just provide a tax rate of $5.50 when the numbers approved by the Board don’t reflect that? Did the Superintendent bother to look at the form she signed? What the Board passed?
If the referendum passed in 2024 mattered it should have been reflected in what was presented at the Public Hearing and passed by the School Board. The Operations/Maintenance and Education levy should have been higher – that’s what voters approved in 2024 because money that formerly went to bonds was redirected.
Voters should demand an explanation. The next Board meeting is scheduled for July 14th – only if needed: Meeting Dates
If Olympia has an explanation for this, voters need to hear it before paying much higher property tax bills.
Elections have consequences, so does assuming elected officials care about your wallet. If you haven’t compared your property taxes to what they would be in other states – do it now. Then quit voting for the people who did this.
So basically the school board and superintendent are to blame for all of this. How can they legally change the tax Levy without a board vote? The updated tax bills have no legal force, since the elected school board already approved the “wrong Levy”, and the superintendent signed a legal affidavit confirming the same.
Until the school board legally approves the new Levy, after following all necessary public notification and truth in taxation regulations, the updated tax bills are Null and Void and have no legal force.
What attorney is representing the taxpayers on this matter?
There may be an explanation but I know I won’t get it if I ask
Ok, so I took a look at the county tax computation report for Olympia, and the correct Levy was approved by the board ($23,369,269), but it looks like district signed and submitted the incorrect “maximum rate” , so the total tax extension (tax dollars to be collected based on the rate and the EAV of properties) was only $19,299,856. The district submitted the wrong rate, and my guess is for the county clerk, the rate x EAV trumps the Levy.
If you look on here, the “calc’ed rate” (which must be what matches the Levy) is much higher than the maximum and actual rate for the education fund and operations fund (equal to total rate difference of 0.7). It looks like the county still need to update this tax computation report again (last updated 5/18/25).
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/29231/Schools-2024-Tax-Computation-Reports
Olympia school board screwed up. Cody Hendricks teaches there.