Mayor McKinney criticizes superintendent’s school board vote over state funds, calls for transparency

Mayor McKinney used the council’s June 4 meeting to address a recent school-board resolution opposing the city’s proposed allocation of state funds intended as property‑tax relief. The mayor said the city proposed reallocating state aid — described by the meeting as $15 million annually to the community — in a way that would reduce property taxes across taxing bodies and that Superintendent David Rodriguez had supported the plan in prior meetings but “flipped” before his school board’s vote.

“Then at the eleventh hour, just before the board meeting, he flipped,” the mayor said, accusing the superintendent of misrepresenting his position to the board and to the city. The mayor said the city had obtained signatures from most taxing bodies in support of a reallocation plan that would abate a portion of the funds for tax relief; he said two school districts (District 126 and District 6) did not sign and that District 6 in particular opposed the measure. The mayor characterized the omission of full context in the school-board resolution as incomplete and said it created the impression the city sought a cash grab rather than a tax abatement.

Administrator David Nabel added background on the policy’s legislative history and said the original intent was to use the funding to offset the economic impact of a once-operating nuclear plant on the lakefront by reducing taxes for residents and businesses; he said the city proposed that 75% of the funds be used for tax abatement to meaningfully reduce the tax burden.

The mayor linked the disagreement to broader concerns about school‑safety cooperation and criticized delays in sharing video evidence and coordination after a shooting at a recent basketball game. He urged the superintendent and school board to prioritize transparency and collaboration with municipal public-safety agencies.

Why it matters: The dispute involves allocation of substantial recurring state funding, intergovernmental coordination among taxing bodies and public‑safety cooperation tied to schools. The mayor’s statements are claims about a local official and school board actions recorded on the public record; the transcript contains no direct response from Superintendent Rodriguez at this meeting.

Next steps: The mayor indicated continued public discussion and engagement with taxing bodies; no formal council action was recorded on this topic at the June 4 meeting.