District 113 projects balanced budget for 2022-23
The Township High School District 113 projects a balanced budget in its operating funds for Fiscal Year 2023, covering the 2022-23 school year.
The board of education reviewed its tentative budget on June 14. The 2023 fiscal year begins July 1. The board must finalize its budget by Sept. 30, but expects to do so at a board meeting in August.
The district's operating funds are those that essentially run Deerfield and Highland Park high schools, including employee salaries and benefits, contracted services, and non-personnel expenses such as electricity, materials and supplies for classrooms.
Salaries and benefits are projected to comprise 79% of expenditures totaling more than $103 million. Property taxes will provide 89% of the revenues for the district's operating funds.
Several aspects affecting both revenues and expenditures were at play to arrive at the balanced budget, said Ali Mehanti, the district's assistant superintendent of finance and chief financial officer.
An increase in investment earnings is projected, as are property tax revenues and the revenue from the corporate personal property replacement tax, which is a portion of revenues Illinois receives from businesses. Due to recent increases in interest rates, interest income is anticipated to increase several times over last year's budget.
As well, budget managers pared money from personnel and non-personnel expenses without affecting instruction, and the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund employer-mandated rate will decrease by about half in 2023 for additional savings to the district.
On the other hand, health insurance costs are expected to increase for the district's PPO plan.
Mehanti noted that, even though the budget is balanced, expenditure trends still have to be monitored closely because revenues from variable sources such as interest income and CPPRT can decrease, and the district cannot rely on those revenue streams to balance the budget.
In the FY 2023 budget, provided that the assessed value of a house did not change, a homeowner of a $500,000 house would expect to pay a 1.4% increase of $54 to District 13 for this tax year.