District 58 Adopts 2012-13 Budget

The Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to approve a deficit budget for the 2012-13 school year.

The budget, which was reviewed and discussed at several public meetings this summer, includes $57.4 million in normal operating aggregate revenues and $57.9 million in normal operating aggregate expenditures, according to District 58 Controller James Popernik.

The total budget deficit across all operating funds—Education, Operations and Maintenance, Transportation, Working Cash and IMRF—is about $544,000, which district officials said will be used to accommodate needs in other areas.

The new budget reflects planned continuation of all district programs; the addition of 20 minutes to the schools day, with accompanying increases in personnel staffing and transportation costs; increases in facilities maintenance spending; as well as some other minor changes.

Projects and purchases planned this year include the second half of the cost of the new K-8 Mathematics curriculum adoption, staff development, transition to the Common Core standards in Math and Language Arts, technology improvements, the implementation of an iPad and Apple TV pilot program, and a replacement truck for the Operations and Maintenance Department.

New to the district's budget this year is a Sinking Fund, which will be used for future capital projects. District 58 plans to transfer $500,000 from the Education Fund to the Sinking Fund, and another $500,000 from Education to Operations and Maintenance.

All Life Safety projects that were approved as part of the $10 million bond issue in 2010 will be completed by this fall, district officials said.

According to District 58 officials, Operations and Maintenance expenditures will increase from $200,000 to $500,000 this year to cover asphalt repair and the launch of a carpet replacement program in the summer of 2013. 

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Expenditure assumptions include a flat student enrollment of just under 5,000, insurance expenses increasing 5 percent, supply/equipment budgets for the schools remaining flat, and salaries increasing by 1.5 to 4 percent, according to contracts.

General state aid will remain level at $1.2 million, according to district officials, and other state aid will increase by $400,000. The property tax receipts related to the 2011 and 2012 levies will increase by 2.6 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, and the interest rate on investments will decrease slightly, to 0.4 percent.

A major concern, Popernik said, is state funding. At the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year, the state owed the district a little over $1 million, and payment uncertainty from the state is again factored into the district’s 2012-13 budget.

Although questions remain regarding the state’s budget and potential changes that may negatively impact the district, the district’s fund balances are expected to remain stable, Popernik said.

“The 2012-13 budget is a continuation of historically stable finances in the district. For the most part, the current facilities overspending is planned and controllable. However, the district’s financial condition, stability and strength are starting to weaken and are reflective of the overall health of the state’s finances,” Popernik said in a statement. “The state’s cash flow problems and desire to shift financial burdens to the local level are a problem that will continue to demand our attention.”

Click here to view the 2012-13 budget.

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