Budget encouraging for District 75

It's not a huge amount, but Mundelein Elementary District 75 is starting the school year in the black.

Board members last week approved a 2008-09 operating budget with nearly $423,000 more in expected revenue than expenses in the education fund.

"The board here is conservative," said Luann Mathis, director of finance and operations. "We try to budget realistically for whatever we need."

Overall, the district expects to take in about $18.4 million in revenue and spend about $18 million. The difference is because the district received more federal funds than expected and didn't spend money on some items as originally planned, such as consulting fees, Mathis said.

"We've basically had balanced budgets over the past few years and want to keep that," said board president Wells Frice. That was the promise made when voters approved a tax hike in 2002.

"Another year forward from when we asked voters to approve the rate increase, and we're still in a balanced budget," Frice said.

District 75 essentially is landlocked for new development, meaning it can't rely on an influx of new stores, for example, to contribute to the property tax base. Enrollment has dipped slightly to about 1,975.

"We have somewhat fewer teachers due to attrition," he said. "We've only increased our expenses about 2 percent or so."

The operating budget includes four funds: education, transportation, construction and retirement. With an expected $14.8 million in revenue, the education fund is by far the largest and pays all expenses except for the operation and maintenance of the four school buildings and other facilities.

According to the district, this year's budget provides funding for more teacher training for the new Literacy by Design reading program.

The district also has begun planning the second part of its building renovation projects, made possible through voter approval in February of about $10 million in bonds. The bulk of the work, which includes roof replacements or repairs, for example, is scheduled to be done during summer recesses.

Last summer, about $2.1 million in improvements was completed on time and on budget. Next year, the work includes heating and air conditioning at Washington School, Mechanic's Grove primary wing and Carl Sandburg's 6th and 7th grade wings.