Mundelein High board adopts $41 million budget, a slight drop from last year
Mundelein High School officials expect spending to decrease slightly this year, according to a $41 million budget adopted Tuesday.
The spending plan for the 2013 fiscal year, which began July 1, is about $86,000 smaller than the previous year’s budget. That’s a decrease of less than 1 percent.
Business Manager Gary Lonquist credited the spending decrease to spending controls that prioritize staffing and the maintenance of class sizes.
“The district continues to carefully manage its resources,” Lonquist said in an email.
The school board approved the new budget with a 6-1 vote Tuesday night.
Board member Rob Paliani cast the lone “no” vote without explanation.
The vote followed a public hearing in which Lonquist reviewed various aspects of the district’s finances.
Whereas spending is expected to drop slightly, revenue is projected to increase. Officials predict they’ll collect about $36.2 in taxes, fees and other revenue, an increase of about $76,000.
Projected expenses are greater than revenue because money raised by a 2011 referendum for building improvements is included in the plan, officials said.
As those projects proceed, the capital project fund will be spent down, Lonquist said.
The school’s operating budget, which doesn’t include the construction projects funded by the referendum, is balanced, Lonquist said. That’s been the case each year since 2005.
One of the big projects for the new school year is a planned $2.9 million renovation of the indoor pool area.
Smaller and shallower than many others in the area, the pool is set to be enlarged and made deeper, Lonquist said.
Additionally, lighting, heating and mechanical equipment in the pool area will be replaced, among other improvements.
Additionally, the windows in the oldest wing of the school are scheduled to be replaced at an estimated cost of $1.1 million.
The replacement of an electrical transformer is expected to cost $265,000, too.