Deficit-laden Dist. 200 views financial options

Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 should slash spending and borrow money to eliminate a projected $14 million deficit in next year's budget, according to a finance committee recommendation.

The advisory panel also is suggesting that District 200 develop and implement a plan to balance the budget within three years.

Now it's up to school board members to decide in the coming weeks how the district will proceed. They are expected to discuss the panel's findings on Feb. 25.

"It's easy to maybe sit back sometimes and say, 'Well, we should just cut, cut, cut,'" board member John Bomher said after hearing the committee's report Wednesday night. "But is that really the district ... we want to be? I think the committee talked about that and came to a very sound recommendation."

District 200 already was facing a multimillion-dollar deficit when the special finance committee was formed last year. Then circumstances over the last several months made a bad financial situation worse.

Due to a dramatic drop in the Consumer Price Index, the district over the next two fiscal years is expected to lose roughly $4 million in new property tax revenue, officials said. In addition, the district is in jeopardy of losing $3 million in general state aid next year.

Roughly 80 percent of District 200's revenue comes from property taxes, officials said. The rest comes from the state and federal governments.

If nothing is done to address the lost revenue, officials estimate the budget deficit could reach $14 million by the 2009-2010 school year.

The finance committee is recommending that the district reduce expenditures for the 2009-2010 budget by $5.5 million to $7 million. The report didn't make any suggestions on what cuts should be made.

While the district works to balance the budget over a three-year period, it will need cash to meet its financial obligations. So the finance committee is recommending that the district borrow $20 million to help pay those expenses.

Finally, finance panel members said, future school boards and committees should study additional revenue sources, including asking voters to approve a property tax rate increase once the budget is balanced.