Vote Yes

In the upcoming March 17th election, we have an opportunity to vote on a referendum that will improve our schools with minimal impact on taxpayers. Vote yes to give our kids the schools they deserve!

Our school district, Ball-Chatham Community Unit School District 5, is ensuring all students are life-ready by providing high quality education and diverse opportunities. We are proud to be Titans and have become a destination district for families.

Our district has accomplished this while setting us on a fiscally responsible path. The district was plagued by overspending and a lack of fiscal accountability in the past, but the board, working with our previous and current administration, reformed the district’s finances by cutting spending, prioritizing funding for students, and instituting accountability. Now, the district spends the least per pupil of any district in Sangamon County—36% less than the state average—and has the 2nd lowest tax rate compared to peer districts throughout the state. And their student-to-administrator ratio is 47% higher than the state average, proving they are investing the funding they have into classrooms rather than spending it on administrative costs. 

While they do the best they can with the funding available, the district is approaching the end of their ability to keep up. The district is funded at only 73% adequacy, designated by the state as a Tier 1 district, meaning they are among the lowest funded districts. Making this even more challenging is the rising cost of education, with students needing more support today than ever before. And with record inflation, they are unable to keep up with the cost of maintaining our aging school buildings, with one school set to reach 100 years old next year and another at 88 years old.

A recent assessment of the district’s facilities identified 416 infrastructure projects that need to be addressed totaling $117 million, with most of that work needing to be done in the next decade. While they’ve made significant investments into safety and security, more upgrades are needed. Electrical and plumbing infrastructure is aging. Upgrades and replacements are needed to windows and athletic facilities. Roofs are leaking, flooring and ceilings need replacement, and some furniture is outdated. Mechanicals are deteriorating. Parking lots are crumbling. 

Thanks to the community’s approval of the one cent county sales tax in 2018, the district has been able to address some of the highest priority capital projects. But even with this additional funding, they can only afford to spend $5 million per year on capital needs and maintenance, which will leave the district short of being able to address all currently identified needs let alone pursue improvements desired by the community.

That’s why our community came together to develop a plan for the future of our schools. Throughout 2025, we collaborated on a plan to improve our district, one which will have minimal impact on taxpayers because the district is responsibly paying off debt. This $110 million plan, with a tax impact of just $145/year for the average homeowner, will now appear on our ballots in the upcoming March 17th election.