Another free school comes to Yorkville

Deals with developers called 'radical new idea' for Illinois

By Heather Gillers
Staff Writer

YORKVILLE — Construction on this town's second developer-financed elementary school is expected to begin in September, school officials said Monday, and hinted that more such schools are on the way.

In the deal, which was first announced in May and has not yet been finalized, the School District agreed to accept reduced impact fees from Dallas-based Centex Homes in exchange for the company's promise to pay those fees up front and allow construction on the $11 million elementary school to begin immediately.

"We have a number (of impact fee dollars) that we think we will be paying, and the School District agrees to take a slightly lower number and that helps offset our interest costs," said Planning and Acquisition Director Jim Berry of Centex's Elgin office.

Developers are required to pay impact fees to alleviate the cost of services, such as education, that the people they bring to Yorkville will require.

But school officials say giving Centex a discount is cheaper than waiting until the 2,075-home development is completed around 2011 to collect the fees.

"Construction will cost a lot more if you do it in four or five years," said the district's business manager, Asif Dada, calling the deal "extremely advantageous for the schools."

The kindergarten through sixth-grade building in the Bristol Bay subdivision is expected to hold 650 students, and construction is tentatively expected to begin in mid-September.

Centex is expected to provide most of the $11 million, and the remaining funds would come from school impact fees paid by other area developers, School Superintendent Thomas Engler said.

"We're working through the details," said Stan Free of Castle Bank, which is providing the loan. "The spirit is there. We're going to get this thing done."

Meta Minton, a spokesman for the state board of education, called prevailing on developers to build schools "a radical new idea," not feasible in most parts of the state, where growth is less rapid.

"It's kind of a luxury for your local taxpayers," she said.

The School District, city and Castle Bank hashed out a similar deal with Burr Ridge-based Moser Enterprises, Pasquinelli and Isenstein LLC, builder of the Grande Reserve subdivision in October 2004, and the company recently completed a nearly $11 million elementary school there.

The school, which will open this year, echoes the design of Yorkville Intermediate School, but has a bigger library, more parking spaces and a separate playground for kindergartners.

Engler said he is working on putting together two more deals for developer-built schools, though he said they are far from final and declined to name the parties involved.

"We've always been reminded by our constituents that we need the developers to carry their weight," School Board President Robert Brenart said, adding that the deal frees up money to spend on curriculum development.

07/26/06