District 200 facing $8.6 million budget deficit
Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 officials are busy working on a proposal to address a projected $8.6 million deficit in their 2010-11 budget.
Meanwhile, an advisory committee has been established to assist with the process.
Officials were expecting the district's financial woes to last through the 2011-12 academic year when the school board last April signed off on a plan to borrow $20 million to help cover budget deficits until a solution is found.
The goal, officials said at the time, was to do a mixture of cuts and borrowing to take "small bites" out of the deficit over a three-year period.
Last year, that meant eliminating more than $6.2 million in spending from the district's roughly $155 million budget. This year, the target is estimated to be about $8.6 million.
"When we started this last year, we said it was going to be a multiyear process to try and address the budget issues," said Bill Farley, assistant superintendent of business operations. "This is kind of the second step."
A first draft of proposed cuts is slated to be presented to the school board on Feb. 10. The special finance committee also will receive the list on that day.
The finance panel, which includes parents and business leaders, will help review the possible spending cuts and make suggestions.
"We know that if we try and make $8.6 million in cuts it's going to have a significant impact on the school district," Farley said. "So we're compiling the numbers and illustrating what that does to the district. Ultimately, the school board will have to decide how to go forward to address the issues we're facing."
School board members are scheduled to vote on the final list of budget reductions during their March 24 meeting, according to a timeline released by the district.
About 74 percent of District 200's revenue comes from property taxes, officials said. The rest comes from the state and federal governments.
Among the factors contributing to the district's budgetary problems are a decline in new property tax dollars and state funding. For example, the district only recently received payments from the state that were due in September.