Finances tight at PES
PRINCETON — The Princeton Elementary School District has started its new fiscal year but is still waiting on state money owed the district for last year.
At Monday’s meeting of the PES Board, President Steve Bouslog reported on the PES Finance Committee’s recent review of the district finances, which shows PES is still owed $620,000 in state payments for the 2010 fiscal year.
Of that amount, about $273,000 is due in PES’ Early Childhood program; $160,000 in its transportation fund; and $187,000 in categorical funds, which includes things like special education.
With the state of Illinois eliminating the Hold Harmless program, PES will lose $330,000 in revenue this year, Bouslog said. There will also be reductions from the reading improvement grant and school safety grant, totaling about $86,000. There is expected to be a loss of about $85,000 in general state aid.
Overall, the district is projected to have about $490,000 less revenue in the 2011 school year, and that’s just in the education fund, Bouslog said.
There are some projected increases in revenue, including an additional $161,000 coming from an increase in the district’s Equalized Assessed Value and also an additional $57,000 in the district’s corporal personal property replacement tax.
Though the district does have a balance of $2.1 million in working cash bonds, that money may not last as long as originally intended, Bouslog said. But the board does have the authority from the voters to borrow another $900,000 in working cash bonds if needed, he said.
Looking to the future, Bouslog said the PES Finance Committee has discussed the possibility of putting a referendum before voters to increase the district’s tax rate in the education fund. The PES tax rate in the education fund is the second lowest in the area for elementary school districts.
By increasing the tax rate in the education fund, the district would hopefully not have to issue working cash bonds as it does now on a regular basis, Bouslog said. Working cash bonds have become a permanent source of revenue, he added.
The problem with issuing working cash bonds is those bonds have to be repaid with interest, which is a drain on taxpayers. It might be worth considering going back to the taxpayers to see if they would approve increasing the education fund rate, so the board wouldn’t have to keep issuing bonds, he said.
In discussing the issue, board member Egan Hicks said he’d like to know whether the other elementary districts in the area, which have higher tax rates in their education funds, are also having to issue working cash bonds.
Following further discussion, Bouslog recommended revisiting the issue when the full board could be present. Board members Terry O’Neil and George Kauffman were absent from Monday’s meeting, and new board member J.P. Aley had not yet taken his position on the board.
In other financial news, Superintendent Tim Smith reviewed the preliminary 2011 fiscal year budget. Total revenue for the year in all funds is projected at $12,245,752, with total expenses projected at $12,590,647, resulting in a negative end-of-year balance of $344,895.
The district ended the 2010 fiscal year, on June 30, with a $2,851,096 unaudited balance and is projected to end the 2011 fiscal year, on June 30, 2011, with a $2,506,201 balance, Smith said.
The board set a public hearing on the proposed budget for 6:45 p.m. Sept. 27 before the next regular school board meeting. The proposed budget is also placed on file at the district office for review.
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