Dist. 300 plays budget guessing game
With the legislature and the governor still wrangling over the state budget, Community Unit District 300 may be forced to approve its own budget without knowing if it will get more than $3.5 million in additional state funding this year.
The school board is scheduled to approve its 2007-08 budget Sept 24. State lawmakers are expected to try to override Gov. Rod Blagojevich's vetoes after that date -- meaning the budget fight is far from over.
All this uncertainty means District 300 will approve its budget with conservative increases in state funding and then revise the budget when it receives the final figures from the state.
"More than likely, the legislature won't be done, so we'll approve it as is," District 300 Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Crates said. "Then we'll be working on the 'what ifs.' "
The state budget in its current form would result in a $3.5 million windfall for District 300 -- $3 million in additional state aid and a $500,000 increase in funding for special education and school aides.
The district also could get about $30 million from the state's Capital Development Board, which would reimburse District 300 for the classroom space in its new schools and help fund new school construction.
District 300 also expects to get about $3 million more in local real estate taxes because of higher property values and the 2006 tax increase.
All this money means 2007-08 could be the second year in a row that the district finishes without a deficit. If all the funding materializes, the district expects to have a $1 million surplus at the end of the year.
Half of the surplus would go toward building up the district's cash reserves so it can operate for three months in case of emergency, and the other half would fund new programs.
The district's proposed $170 million budget, up from $153 million last year, includes 25 additional teachers at a cost of about $1.2 million.
The budget also increases spending on special education, with 9½ new positions and $900,000 that would pay to send special-needs students to special schools.
You can view the proposed budget online at www.d300.org/web/financialinformation.html. A public hearing on the budget will be held before a vote on the document at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24.