New St. Charles school budget plan projects nearly $1M surplus

For months, St. Charles school officials feared the loss of millions of dollars in state money so much they nearly put a question on the ballot to save money by closing Haines Middle School.

The final draft of the District 303 2016-17 budget set aside those concerns for at least one more year Thursday.

The new budget forecasts a surplus of nearly $1 million. That's a full reversal of fortune from the first draft, which predicted a $1 million deficit.

Instead of losing big dollars via a property tax freeze or changes to school funding and teacher pensions, state lawmakers gave the district even more money than it received in the current budget year.

In fact, overall income will rise by 1.6 percent in 2016-17. That compares to a 1.13 percent increase in spending.

Salaries and benefits account for 72.1 percent of the district's spending. The school board just approved new salary contracts for all district employees that feature average raises of 3 percent in each of the next three years.

Every 1 percent of salary increase adds about $1 million in expenses to the district's budget.

Big drops in district staffing in the next few years will balance out some of the long-term cost of those raises.

The 2016-17 budget shows 985.5 full-time employees. That's about 25 fewer than in the current budget.

Full-time staffing drops all the way to 932 by 2021, reflecting both retirements and a continued decline in enrollment.

The immediate good news for taxpayers is the budget fits the school board's guidelines for a property tax levy increase of 2 percent or less, said Seth Chapman, the district's chief financial officer. The district is also now just two years away from the retirement of a major portion of its outstanding debt.

When that happens, the owners of a $300,000 home will see their tax bill fall by about $600.

The school board will take a final vote on the budget Sept. 12.