Lake County Gazette

Ted Moorman has no problem with being an outlier when it comes to saying no to more taxes.

“Normally we try to put up a unified voice, but I totally disagree with the rest of the board,” Moorman said at a recent board meeting after he was the only member of the Lake Forest 115 School Board to vote no to higher taxes. “If we’re talking about capital improvements normally that should be handled by referendum and that way it’s not seven people voting on it its 20,000.”

Now running for reelection as board secretary on the Let’s Do Better slate, Moorman said a proposed levy increase strikes him as just more of the same from the board.

“What we’re voting on is just to increase our piggy bank,” he added. “Basically we're taxing the residents of Lake Forest much more than we need to. Tonight was our last chance to say thank you and we don’t need to take more.”

 A lifelong resident of Lake Forest, Moorman has always seen himself as the “fiscal conscience” on the board he’s served for the last seven years. He argues the board already provides students with all the resources they need to be successful.

"We are one of the highest-funded schools in the state with $25,000 funding provided per student," he said. "I was successful in convincing the board to switch from our longtime funding policy of just asking for the max each year to only asking for half this year.”