U-46 unsure if future budget should include state funds
The fight for a funding fix has been an emotional roller coaster for Elgin Area School District U-46 officials.
Despite the closing of books at the end of the fiscal year today, that fight doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon.
Legislation that would provide cash-strapped U-46 with an extra $22 million in 2010-11, has sat, awaiting signature, on Gov. Pat Quinn's desk since May.
Moving into a new budget year, U-46 officials don't know whether to count on the funds or not.
"The tentative budget that's been prepared to this point does not include that money," outgoing Chief Financial Officer Ron Ally said. "We're certainly watching for it every day."
Ally, who will head to Harper College in Palatine at the end of the week, noted it will be up to the next CFO to decide if the district is going to include the $22 million in the academic year budget.
A spokeswoman in Quinn's office said the bill was "still under review" Tuesday. U-46 spokesman Tony Sanders, who has led much of the district's push for the legislation's passage, said he spoke to the governor's office late last week.
"It sounds as if the governor is not signing any bills that have fiscal notes attached," he said. "I explained that our bill does not cost the state additional funds, rather it ensures our appropriation from (general state aid) is corrected. I don't expect a bill signing anytime soon."
Quinn said Monday that he plans to release details of the state's budget today. But the financial picture is gloomy, at best.
The state is now more than $1.3 billion behind in payments to schools. And the Illinois State Board of Education moved to cut $300 million from next year's K-12 budget last week.
U-46 officials believe the district is losing out on millions in state aid each year by being designated a predominantly Kane County school district, though most of the district's taxable property has been in Cook County since 2004.
District officials contend that the legislation would simply cause the state to slice the educational funding pie differently, and would make U-46 "whole" again.
"This isn't money that is being created. This is money that belongs to the district that's been going somewhere else for a long time," said State Rep. Keith Farnham, the legislation's House sponsor. "It belongs here. It has belonged here all along. That's why it passed overwhelmingly."
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.
The 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, and the House with a 113-0-1 vote in late April.
"In a sense this bill is my baby," Noland said. "I've told the school board and (State Rep.) Keith Farnham, unless we have the revenue to fund it, it's really a blank check at that point. I understand the governor's trepidation. He's looking at having to take from other school districts. Truth be told, these are school districts that have taken from U-46 over the years. He's caught in a quandary."