U-46 funding bill passes, could mean $22 million more for district

Weeks ago, Elgin Area School District U-46 officials feared legislation that would provide a state funding fix was permanently stalled.

But the pace picked up in recent days, culminating with its Thursday morning 113-0-1 passage in the House. State Rep. Elizabeth Coulson, a Glenview Republican, voted "present."

Sponsor State Rep. Keith Farnham, an Elgin Democrat, says the legislation will provide cash-strapped U-46 with an extra $22 million next year, according to numbers he's received from the state board of education.

Shortly after the vote, U-46 spokesman Tony Sanders expressed cautious optimism that the added funds could "potentially" bring back hundreds of teachers.

"This is a key element for our funding next school year to make sure we're still on the same level playing field for all other school districts. We still don't know what the (state budget) will be. There's still a lot of unknowns. We could get this and then they could still cut per-pupil funding, and we'll still lose. We'll have to wait and see what happens with the budget at the state level before we get too far in recalling (teachers)."

The House vote marks the end of a nearly yearlong quest by the district to find a way to net the missing funds. U-46 believes that it is losing out on millions in state aid each year by being designated a predominately Kane County school district, though most of the district's taxable property has been in Cook County since 2004.

The "limiting rate" - the maximum property tax rate allowed under the suburban property tax cap law - determines the amount of local funding a school district gets. If it is overestimated, it appears the district will receive more in local property taxes than it actually does, and the state delivers less funding.

This school year, district officials calculated they should have netted $69.7 million in general state aid. But with Kane County working as the dominant and estimating county, U-46 will get only $58.3 million.

The state board gave U-46 a $7.1 million "administrative fix" this year to help deal with the shortfall.

Legislation that would provide a permanent solution by forcing the state board to readjust the limiting rate once the actual rate becomes available, and adjust general state aid payments, was filed early this year by State Sen. Michael Noland, an Elgin Democrat. It passed the Senate with a 40-15 vote in March.

While the legislation does have the support of the General Assembly, the state board of education remains against it.

The bill would address few of the other 83 multi-county school districts in the state, officials have said.

"We may come back next year and try to fix the overall problem," Farnham said.

The funds could not come at a better time for U-46, which has cut $30 million from next year's budget and still predicts a $40 million deficit. An early childhood center will close, 1,100 employees have received layoff notices, class sizes will increase and extracurricular activities will diminish next year.

With U-46 already missing $20 million in payments from the state, officials are cognizant of the fact that the additional funds could come in the form of IOUs.

"We've had so much bad news, you tend to condition yourself not to get your hopes up," U-46 school board President Ken Kaczynski said. "We'll do our best to be good stewards of the additional funds."

The bill awaits Gov. Pat Quinn's signature. The governor's office has not yet given any indication whether Quinn intends to sign the bill.