Dist. 214 board president slams state before approving budget

The District 214 school board unanimously approved its 2010-11 budget on Thursday night but not before Board President Bill Dussling criticized late funding from the state.

"The state is two to three million dollars behind on a regular basis," Dussling said. "So we have to use 73 percent of our reserve account to carry us through. We have to cash in on investments and by doing that we're losing about $100,000 in interest. We can't replace that money."

That means the district will use about $65 million of the district's $88 million reserve account to fill in for the state's funding, said Deb Parenti, District 214's Associate Superintendent for Finance and Operations.

Once the state funds roll in, the district will repay its reserve account. Last year those funds didn't arrive until January, Parenti said.

The budget approved on Thursday is a balanced operating budget.

On the revenue side, the district has about $230.5 million coming in, of which about $183 million comes from property taxes. The district will spent about $241 million in 2010-11, with the extra $11 million being spent on long-planned capital projects, Parenti said.

District 214's fiscal year will run from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.