Schaumburg Township Voters to Decide Settlement

Schaumburg Township trustees, caught without sufficient liability insurance when a Hoffman Estates woman was struck by a township bus and suffered permanent brain damage three years ago, agreed Monday to ask taxpayers' permission to pay her a $5 million settlement.

Voters will be asked in a November ballot question to let the township issue $3 million in bonds to pay the share of the settlement not covered by insurance.

If voters refuse, the case will go to a jury, which could award Maria Reyes an even larger amount of damages.

The bond issue would increase a homeowner's township tax bill by less than 1 percent, according to township figures. A taxpayer with a $3,000 total tax bill, for instance, would see an increase of $4.80.

The increase was described by financial consultant Ronald Norene, president of R.V. Norene & Associates, as "a peanut."

Norene's Glenview-based firm was hired Monday to help township trustees to determine the best way to acquire the money for the settlement.

Selling bonds will enable the township to pay its share of the settlement within two months after the vote, said Norene, rather than waiting for all the taxes to be collected.

If the bond issue is approved, trustees say they plan to pay it off in 10 or less years, and the tax increase will then be removed from tax bills.

The township has now acquired $5 million in liability insurance, said township administrator Larry Weniger. But at the time of the accident, it was insured for $2 million.

Initially, Reyes sued for $9 million to cover her medical bills and lost income.

Reyes, 31, was struck by a township bus in May 1994 while jogging across Huntington Boulevard at Higgins Road in Hoffman Estates. She suffered permanent brain damage and is not capable of living independently, said her attorney, Robert A. Clifford .

Clifford was not at the meeting Monday night to comment on the board's decision.

In a recent interview, Clifford said the case is "not one where the people ought to be outraged." It is a "decision someone made about not having enough protection."

Free-lance reporter Krystyna Slivinski contributed to this story