City to re-explore sales tax agreement proposal to fund $5.3 million Northview Elementary expansion

Peru Elementary Superintendent Jamie Craven said on Wednesday decisions on how to fund an estimated $5.3 million expansion at Northview School must be made in the next few months.

He said the school district could look at increasing property taxes, work out an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Peru to get a share of sales tax revenue, or figure out a combination of both methods.

Craven said identified space needs at Northview are not going away and putting off the project any longer is likely to cost more in the future.

“Time is of the essence,” Craven told dozens of residents who attended the public hearing in the school’s gymnasium, including some elected Peru city officials and staff, as well as the mayor and his political opponent.

Craven said the school district was able to enter into an agreement with the city for its loan payments to be made from sales tax revenue when Parkside Middle School was built. This allowed for property taxes to remain low and for the school’s construction to be funded through Peru’s retail sales revenue. The agreement sunsets in 2028.

The conversation during a question-and-answer portion of the hearing steered to a meeting the superintendent had with Mayor Ken Kolowski in February 2024. Craven said the mayor told him the city was going to have to look at the proposal for sharing sales tax with the school district. When the mayor returned to meet with Craven, Kolowski told him it wasn’t something the city could extend at that time, because the city would need to fund other upcoming projects.

Kolowski, who was in attendance Wednesday, said he learned new information from the hearing and would readdress it with the City Council and city staff.

“We’d like to take a much deeper dive into this now and work on this together and come up with a solution that works with everybody,” Kolowski said. “We’re all in this together.”

The mayor said he wants what’s best for the school district and understands the need.

Mayoral candidate Doug Bernabei attended Wednesday’s meeting and said he would work with the City Council and school board to come up with a strategy that doesn’t require property tax increases.

“I am absolutely convinced that the city and school district can continue the longtime partnership in some fashion that will benefit all involved,” Bernabei said. “Leadership is bringing people together and that is what I intend to do.”

Craven said the goal for the project would be to add six classrooms to bring down some class sizes reaching the high 20s. The addition would allow for five sections at each grade level if needed, additional spaces for meeting rooms and for special education and intervention programming.

While Craven said enrollment in the district appears to be flat, programming changes dictate the need for adding onto the school. The pre-kindergarten program has expanded from two classrooms to four, an autism program now is housed at Northview, the life skills program has grown, and math intervention, an English Language Learner program and a deaf, hard-of-hearing program were established.

The district would like to begin construction in spring 2026, but to do so would need to approve a final footprint design and financing plan by August. That would put the project on track to go out to bid in December and award bids by February 2026. If construction begins in June 2026, the new addition could open by August 2027, Craven said.

“It’s a 10 month build out,” Craven said.

Craven said the board tried to acquire an Early Childhood Construction Grant in fall of 2022 but was not selected. The school board modified its design concept in fall of 2023, then approached the city in February 2024 for a sales tax agreement. Not getting the buy in from the city at that time, the project was tabled in May 2024, until recently, Craven said.

The superintendent said the school district also can adjust its repayment of a loan to 7.5, 10 and 13 years, depending on how aggressive it wants to pay. The longer the term, the less property taxies will be levied per year.

A couple comments during the question-and-answer session encouraged the board to make sure the expansion is enough, especially if Peru experiences any growth in the future.

City Clerk Dave Bartley questioned the timing of Wednesday’s meeting just two weeks before a city and school board election. He also added the city already has shown a willingness to help the school district, by entering into a unique agreement for Parkside’s construction. Craven said the district needs to act soon to keep the cost of the project down.

Craven encouraged any residents with questions to contact him at jcraven@perued.net or call 815-223-1111, ext. 5.