NORMAL - Some of the biggest financial supporters of Citizens for Unit 5, the committee formed to promote the Unit 5 building referendum, are people who work in the district. | Campaign disclosure report | Local voter's guide | Unit 5 meeting story

The teachers' union, the first to give, donated $10,000 - the largest to date. Superintendent Gary Niehaus personally donated $2,000.

As of Monday, donations totaled about $23,065, according to the committee treasurer David Rutledge of Bloomington. In all 22 individuals, six businesses, four parent-teachers organizations, and the Unit 5 Education Association have given to the cause, said committee co-chairman Carl Teichman.

Expenses to date total almost $20,000 and include radio and newspaper advertisements, yards signs, mailings and campaign buttons, he said, adding he expects final donations to total more than $30,000.

On Feb. 5, district voters will be asked to approve a $96.7 million building project to build two new elementary schools, add onto another, construct a new middle school, renovate eight existing schools and upgrade security and technology at all schools. A second question asks for an increase in the education fund for operating expenses for the new buildings. If approved, the homeowner of a $200,000 home would pay an additional $170; the current Unit 5 tax bill is about $2,742.

"We're still gaining momentum and people are contributing to the committee," said Teichman, adding, "No taxpayer dollars, no Unit 5 money" is being spent on promoting the referendum. There is no organized effort against the referendum.

An expensive telephone survey

Another large expense associated with the referendum was a $22,000 telephone survey initiated in October before the referendum committee was formed. The survey by a St. Louis firm showed 61 percent of those responding were in favor of the construction project. It was paid for by a group of local developers, said Niehaus.

It's not uncommon for developers to help a school district, primarily through the donation of land, on the premise that new schools attract families to new subdivisions. Developers of the Grove at Kickapoo Creek and Cedar Ridge subdivisions gave land and infrastructure to Unit 5 for the two new elementary schools.

Of his own $2,000 donation, Niehaus said he also contributes to his church and charitable organizations in the community.

"I think the main thing is you put your money where your mouth is," said Niehaus.

A spokesperson for the teachers' union expressed a similar view.

"It was to jump start the committee," said Vickie Mahrt, the union's immediate past president, a teacher at Glenn Elementary School and a Citizens for Unit 5 member.

"It's not unusual or inappropriate (for us) to provide funding to help with good quality education," said Mahrt, adding the group's donation was "not an effort to control the referendum or to make the committee be puppets. There are no strings. We trust their judgment."

On the Web:

http://www.expandandexcel.org

The committee's campaign disclosure report through Dec. 31 can be viewed online at http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/D2Semi.aspx?id=357805