District 158 hits roadblock in effort to fix state aid

Officials in Huntley Unit District 158 have hit a roadblock in their effort to fix an issue that is costing the district an estimated $2 million in lost state aid each year.

The issue has the potential to arise in any school district that overlaps counties - including the state's second-largest district, Elgin Area School District U-46.

District U-46, which includes parts of Cook, Kane and DuPage counties, could be losing millions of dollars in state aid each year because of the same issue District 158 is facing. So says Tony Quagliano, a former District 158 board member and school finance expert who is leading the charge to get the legislation passed.

District U-46 Chief Financial Officer John Prince said he has not had time to fully analyze the issue but acknowledged difficulties with the way state aid is calculated in multi-county districts.

"Districts that are in overlapping counties have to use estimated numbers because Cook (County) is on a different (tax) cycle than Kane and DuPage," Prince said. "That's problematic."

The issue arises when a county clerk makes a bad estimate on the value of property in a neighboring county, leading the state to overestimate the amount of property taxes a district will collect.

Because state officials think the district is getting more local revenue than it is actually collecting, the district gets a correspondingly smaller allotment of state aid.

The bill that would allow districts to recoup some of the lost money and resolve the problem for future years has stalled in the state House after passing the Senate and a House committee.

Before the legislation reached the House, the bill's supporters predicted they would face an uphill battle because of opposition from the Illinois State Board of Education.

Now, the bill's backers say the state board of education is the reason the legislation has not been called for a vote.

"Right now, they've got it stopped because they're opposing it," said state Rep. Mike Tryon, the bill's sponsor.

In an effort to appease the state board of education and the House Democratic leadership, Tryon said he has offered to amend the bill so that school districts cannot recover lost state aid but only fix the issue for future years.

The Crystal Lake Republican said he met with officials from the state board of education on Wednesday to ask them to change their position on the bill to neutral in light of the proposed amendment.

But a spokesman for the state board did not seem to acknowledge a meeting even took place.

"We have not seen any language," state board spokesman Matt Vanover said, referring to the amendment.

Vanover indicated the state board of education may not support the bill even with the proposed change.

"The underlying premise of the bill is to retroactively manipulate that data," Vanover said. "It doesn't solve the underlying issues that are associated with this."

Time is running out for supporters of the bill; the legislative session closes at the end of this month.

But the greater obstacle may be the state budget crisis.

"That bill would create a special windfall for a number of school districts," said Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan. "It can't really be afforded."