New School PACs Like the First Robin...and You’re the Worm

Somewhere there are experts in passing school tax hike and bond referendums who must have given advice on how to hide who is financing the increasingly expensive campaigns as long as possible.

They solicit big bucks from developers, school vendors and, to a lessening extent, teachers’ unions, but that information appears where the public can spot it as late as state law allows.

The State Board of Elections has a “Latest filed reports” part of its web site that lists the last 1,000 filings.

If you want to watch who is running an active campaign, that’s the place to check. Starting February 20th big contributions (over $500) will be reported there every day. Most will be for candidates, but the ones I shall be watching for are for school tax hike committees. Those referendums affect your pocketbook more than any candidate can.

Pre-election reports must be filed by March 7th. They show up in the most recently filed list, too. They list all January 1st through February 19th contributions of more than $150. (These can be filed earlier than March 7th, but that would just let you to see the names of special interest contributors earlier than required.) It is those pre-election reports where those interested in who wants to raise their taxes will find most of the gold given school tax hike committees.

A committee or individual does not have to reveal its existence until it spends $3,000 in a year. Of course, if your public relations firm and printer trust you, they can give you credit. They can and do send bills after the election. But once big checks are collected—probably a lot from a meeting of homebuilders—a Statement of Organization has to be filed with the State Board.

Citizens for District 34 Children is a group pushing the Antioch school’s bond proposal. It showed itself by filing organization papers on February 17th.

Another filing on February 17th was named U 4 Excellence. It is supporting a bond referendum in Champaign and filed on paper, rather than electronically. It only identifies the political action committee’s officers and purpose. There was an existing committee--Friends of Unit 4--with $1,247.25 in the bank at the end of the year. In existence since 1993, its purpose was “to support the passage of referendum to increase the property tax rate for the unit 4 school district.”

When the Woodstock School District 200 committee made its initial filing on January 31st, it identified no propositions being supported.

Take a look at the nine other more or less sneak attack committees from all over the state that I found by checking out McHenry County Blog.