By Brooke Fisher

IVCC is planning to ask voters for a tax increase and a $16 million bond referendum in November 2002.

College President Dr. Jean Goodnow said a property tax increase is needed because of the ever-rising costs of running the college.

"As salaries, health insurance, premiums and utility costs continue to rise, we have to look at every possible revenue source," she said. "We have been operating under the same 17-cent operating fund levy since the college was founded in 1967. We are now serving more than twice as many students as we did in the late 1960s, but we still have the second lowest tax rate in the state."

Another major concern is the anticipated loss of local property tax income after the current agreement with Commonwealth Edison expires. The college expects to lose an estimated $700,000 each year after its four-year pact with ComEd expires Dec. 31, 2004.

The college is also asking voters to approve a $16 million bond. If approved the college will receive $18 million of state matching funds. The money will be used to replace seven temporary buildings that are over 30 years old, add a community instructional center, instructional equipment, infrastructure updates and update the library and science labs.

IVCC will seek a 15-cent per $100 assessed valuation increase in its tax rate, which should generate about $2 million more annually for the district, according to Fran Brolley, IVCC director of public information. The district is already levying a 6-cent equity tax that will expire after 2002, so the taxpayers will actually see a 9-cent increase if the referendum passes.

Board chairman Jimmie D. Lansford said another challenge faced by the college is attracting and retaining top-flight instructors.

"We need to be able to continue to attract high-quality instructors," he said. "IVCC’s number one asset, its hallmark, is teaching excellence. We must maintain that tradition."

The college’s major revenue sources are student tuition, local property taxes and state and federal support.

IVCC serves an estimated 15,000 people each year, including one out of every three district high school graduate, and employs over 600 full- and part-time workers.

IVCC offers transfer and career programs as well as a myriad of other services such as a Dislocated Workers Center, Adult Education, noncredit mini-courses, a Small Business Development Center, a Business Training Center and Project NOA, a nutrition program which serves meals to more than 900 district senior citizens each day.

If the referendum is not approved, programs might be cut to keep IVCC in the black.

"Taxpayers will get more than a dollar for dollar return on their money," Goodnow said. "We can’t continue to provide the level of services and programs with the limited resources we have."