Battle lines drawn in D - 200

A group that opposes the insane spending in D 200 emerges in Woodstock. The story below was reported in the Northwest Herald on February 17, 2006.

Battle lines drawn in D-200
[published on Fri, Feb 17, 2006]

WOODSTOCK – As election day nears, supporters and opponents are drawing battle lines over the Woodstock School District 200's request for $105 million in new taxes to build more schools.

Mailings from a pro-referendum committee called Citizens for District 200 Schools soon could be hitting mailboxes, while an anti-referendum campaign has taken to cyberspace.

When voters head to the polls March 21, they will be asked whether School District 200 should be allowed to build three new schools, including a new high school with a pool; renovate Olson Middle School and Verda Dierzen Early Learning Center; and temporarily keep open Clay Elementary School.

The proposal, which could cost taxpayers $105 million payable over 20 years, was designed to help manage a projected 4,300-student population boom by academic year 2013-14.

For the owner of a $200,000 home claiming the $5,000 homestead tax exemption, the bond issue would mean an additional $141.83 in property taxes the first year.

The Woodstock Citizen, a blog launched earlier this month in response to the referendum, raised eyebrows by posting anti-referendum ads on a site supported by many of downtown Woodstock's prominent businesses. Blogs such as The Woodstock Citizen are on-line journals maintained by one person or a group of people who post short articles and running commentary about various issues.

One of the ads features a series of unsigned testimonials purportedly from referendum opponents. For the rest of the story in the Northwest Herald click here.

To visit Woodstock Citizens for Sane Spending and Stop D 200 Tax hike click here.

To view the unsigned testimonials click here.

To view the main website woodstockcitizen.com click here.

CRAFT tried to contact this group via email. As of this posting we have not had a response.