A $3.35 Million Tax "Gift" for Lake Forest Taxpayers from Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Hermes

Last night, the Lake Forest High School District 115 School Board met to unanimously rubber-stamp an increased tax levy at the maximum amount allowed by state law.

Not a single school board member spoke up publicly at the meeting on behalf of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff taxpayers.

Not. A. Single. One.

In addition to the estimated $180 million taxpayers now owe on the new referendum bond, once the District 67 School Board approves the maximum levy increase on the 17th, taxpayers in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff will be given a "gift" this year of:

$3,349,007.09 in New Property Taxes

A Rubber Stamp Board

You would think the school boards would lead for the taxpayers they represent. Still, they appear to be nothing more than a 'rubber stamp board' for Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Hermes' administrators-first financial agenda.

Please don't take our word for it. Look at the documents below! Dr. Montgomery and Hermes recommended the tax increase, and they prepared the forms for the Lake County Clerk before our elected representatives had a chance to vote on it.

It must have worked because they voted for it without ONE question or challenge posed.

Tax Now; Budget Later

When your mentality is to always ask for the greatest amount of tax dollars allowed, you get spending wholly divorced from the shifting needs of the schools. While the student population has dropped 14.84% since 2019, district spending has risen 40.79%.

This is a new version of a previous graph based on updates from the 2024 Illinois State Board of Education Website.

"I'm Sure All The Extra Taxes We Pay Goes to Students"

One might be inclined to think so, but if it is… there is something seriously wrong with how administrators invest in curricular and pedagogical improvements.

One must ask: "What are we getting for our money, and why are we tolerating results that have declined so noticeably compared to just a few years ago?"

Which Makes One Wonder…

How Efficiently Are They Allocating Our Tax Dollars?

Based on the most recently reported gross total expenditures and instructional spending for D115 (available on ISBE), an estimated 41 cents of every dollar you give D115 goes into the classroom (and that includes teachers' salaries).

We cannot say what the "magic ratio" between classroom spending and overhead is. Still, if we run our business with these percentages of spending going outside our core offering, we'd be out of business.

Suppose you wanted to hold us to a number. In that case, we'd say that a modest and attainable goal is to have 80%+ of educational tax dollars go into classroom instruction and teacher salaries.

Certainly, overhead costs for a single high school should not exceed $12,000,000.00 (20% of the current budget). Something is seriously amiss.

Reality: Funds are Not Adequately Reaching Kids

The reality is that funds are adequately reaching the classrooms.

To be sure, some of the money reaches classrooms, but it seems almost an afterthought to ballooning administrative raises, luxurious professional development (Coronado, for example), overnight hotel stays for professional meetings, expensive "business lunches" at Miramar, an endless line of consultants in response to current leadership failure, and so forth.

It's no secret that many teachers have reached out to us in frustration because they were told to ask parents to fund certain essentials—like Kleenex—and have seen only modest financial appreciation.

How little? Well, as of the most recent contract, teachers received 5% raises while administrative staff enjoyed increases as high as 23%.

"It's only an extra few thousand dollars."

Lastly, what we seem to hear most often, and perhaps the most tired of arguments against fiscal responsibility, is that "this community can afford it."

Instead of addressing the abuse and waste, they save their hands on us over what they think are pennies we shouldn't even notice missing from the jar.

Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Hermes may think a few thousand extra new taxes per home aren't a big deal in Lake Forest. Still, such a view betrays a harsh reality: unlike the superintendent, most people in our community are not swimming in money—especially those on a fixed income.

The average Lake Forester/Bluffer does not have the compensation package of Dr. Montgomery: $30,580 per month in income, FULL health insurance coverage for himself and his family billed at 100% of its cost to taxpayers, and a 100% FUNDED taxpayer-funded pension (not including healthcare) estimated at between $12.8 and 15.7 million (analysis).

Closing Words and Policy Recommendations

As School Board District 67 meets next week on December 17th, to pass its own maxed-out tax levy, we urge board members to push back against the school administration’s vociferous appetite for more money. Is it too much to ask one of these elected representatives to distinguish him or herself with words of advocacy on behalf of the property taxpayer?  

We hope to see robust discussion and pressure placed on COO Jennifer Hermes and Superintendent Matthew Montgomery to change course for 2025. Perhaps some clear-line budget leadership is in order?  

In the meantime, here are some policies for the Board to consider:

Policy Recommendations:

1. Flatten Spending in 2025.  

2. Reduce Spending on Administration to 2019 Levels. 

3. Increase the percent of total spending attributed to instruction by 10%

4. Prepare a Fiscal Responsibility Plan to prioritize areas for spending discipline