Forsyth takes repayment of $25 million from school off the table [Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill.]

Dec. 20--FORSYTH -- Repayment of up to $25 million in sales tax revenue used in building a new grade school in Forsyth is no longer an option following a village board decision Monday.

The board voted 5-1 in favor of a plan that would effectively eliminate the possibility that the Maroa-Forsyth School District would repay the money. The sales tax would be rescinded when the current school bonds are retired in about 20 years.

However, the village is hoping to obtain a commitment from the school board that retiring the bonds early will be a priority in its future financial planning. The village also wants regular reports from the school district regarding the progress in the repayment of the bonds.

Trustee Bob Rasho's motion directed Village Administrator Heather Kimmons to communicate the board's intent in writing to the school district and give school board officials four weeks until Forsyth'sJan. 17 meeting to make a response, taking into account the timing falls around the holiday break. A fourth provision states that the village will have no further discussion regarding future land purchase by the school district until the other commitments have been agreed upon.

"It's not worth pursuing repayment as it would add an unnecessary burden to the community at large," Rasho said. "It does not serve anyone's best interests. The lessons learned from this are really what are important."

The decision was an attempt to move the issue forward after lengthy discussions on the topic and an independent attorney's report reviewing the process that led to the current dispute. Voters in 2007 approved two referendum questions raising Forsyth's sales tax by half a percent to be used for the purpose of building a new school.

Rasho said he wants to make clear what the board's intention is so future board members can know exactly what is supposed to happen.

"It has been discussed enough," Rasho said. "Let's move on. The more we talk about this, the bigger hole we're digging."

School district representatives were not in attendance at Monday's meeting to immediately respond to the board's action. However, the school board last week issued a statement that restated its assertion that the issue should be put to rest.

Superintendent Mike Williams has said the possibility of retiring the bonds early would be a challenge.

Village board members felt they had no legal remedies to forcing a repayment. The village does appear open to the possibility of discussing a land deal for a possible new middle school, just not using the same funding mechanism as was used for the grade school.

The issue over repayment surfaced again earlier this year after school board officials approached the village about the idea of buying land for a new middle school near the grade school.

Trustee Eric Morr, who voted against Rasho's proposal, said he is still hoping for a compromise deal with the school district and that both sides can continue to be business partners.

"I've got nothing to hold them accountable," Morr said. "They got us. Legally, we have nothing to do."

The question of Forsyth residents having more access to the grade school was raised. Although Mayor Harold "Hap" Gilbert said the idea of a joint-use facility was taken off the table at an early stage of discussions, school district officials have indicated to the village being open to the idea of letting community members use the building.

Following its open meeting, the board moved into a closed session to discuss the role of village staff in the process of completing agreements between the two governing bodies. Village Attorney Darrel Woolums sent a letter with a draft agreement pertaining to repayment to school district attorney Everett Nicholas Jr. in July 2007 to which Nicholas did not respond.

Board members including Rasho have openly questioned whether Woolums should have better advised them on the issues involved and followed up with Nicholas after not receiving a response.

Following the closed session, trustee Steve Hubbard made a motion that was approved to direct village staff to continue a request for proposal process and have a report ready for the mayor by its next meeting. The village began reviewing its professional contracts earlier this year.

Although Woolums has done work for the village for more than 15 years, he has not had a written contract.

"Things were done wrong, absolutely," Hubbard said. "There's no question about that. Deep down, I feel no one intentionally misled anyone."

In a related matter, Kimmons asked the board to approve self-reporting to the state Attorney General's office apparent open meetings act violations from closed sessions on May 21, 2007 and June 4, 2007. As part of the process to release the independent attorney's report, the board released minutes from those closed sessions.

Kimmons said in reviewing the recordings of those meetings, there appeared to be discussion that was off-topic from the stated purpose for the closed session. The board voted to release the recordings of those meetings.

During those sessions, the board discussed with school board president Jim Peck and Williams the possibility of repaying the sales tax revenue.

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