No questions or comments were directed at the ISD 166 school board or superintendent at a Truth-in- Taxation hearing held Wednesday, December 15, 2010, despite the fact that the school levy will be increasing by over 50% in 2011. Theonly people in the audience were school employees and two office equipment representatives.
At that meeting, Superintendent Beth Schwarz went over some numbers, including the upcoming levy increase from $498,279 in 2010 to $986,128 in 2011. In November, Cook County voters approved an operating referendum that will account for $382,232 of the increase. The other $105,617 is for debt service and is due to a fluctuation in tax collection by the state to ensure that amounts due from delinquent taxes will be covered by other sources.
The school district is expecting $6,492,353 in revenue for fiscal year 2011. Sixtyone percent of that is expected from the state, 33 percent from local sources, and 6 percent from the federal government. Rounded to the nearest whole number, 49 percent of the budget will be spent on salaries and wages, with another 14 percent going to employee benefits. Debt service will account for 16 percent of the budget. Purchased services will account for seven percent; supplies and materials, seven percent; capital expenditures, six percent; and other, one percent.
FY 2010 revenue was 4.4 percent over the original budget, but expenditures were 8 percent over the original budget.
A mid-year revised budget shows that deficit spending is expected to go from $278,695 to $367,826. In a December 10 work session discussion with the school board, Superintendent Schwarz attributed the extra expenses to things such as replacement of a van, the science curriculum, and staffing costs.
The unreserved/undesignated fund (the “fund balance”) is expected to decrease from $825,849 at the end of June 2010 to an estimated $795,458 by the end of June 2011. The school board’s policy is to maintain a fund balance equivalent to at least 45 days of operating costs. That amount should be about $1.1 million right now, Schwarz said.
The district’s audit for FY 2010 revealed no major errors in the school’s books. Superintendent Schwarz said the audit, which is mandatory, cost the district $10,000.
Leave a Reply