The $44.9 million budget approved last month by the Winnetka Public Schools District 36 board reflects the district’s determination to return money to taxpayers and rein in fund balances while still meeting education needs, district officials said last week.
More Top Picks Best Socket Sets For Homeowners
Board members approved the budget for the 2017 fiscal year, including $44.6 million in revenues, on Sept. 20. The fiscal year runs from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017, but school districts don’t need to file their budgets with Cook County until Sept. 30.
The $32.2 million education fund comprises the lion’s share of spending, according to a presentation school board members reviewed before passing the budget.
The presentation by Greg Kurr, the district’s chief financial officer, shows that another roughly $4.02 million has been budgeted for operations and maintenance needs; $1.26 million for Social Security, Medicare and retirement requirements; $1.6 million for capital projects; just over $453,000 for transportation costs and $136,000 for tort immunity. The district also expects to spend $5.22 million for repayment of debt.
Of that spending, almost 56 percent pays for district salaries, and almost 11 percent goes toward employee benefits. Another 11.7 percent of district spending is to pay down debt.
Most district revenue – 93.5 percent – flows from local property taxes, with the rest coming from state and federal sources, and local fees, according to Kurr’s presentation.
The district expects to take in roughly $36.3 million in revenue in the education fund; just over $955,000 for the operations and maintenance fund; $1.3 million for retirement and Medicare requirements; just over $322,300 for transportation; almost $208,000 for tort immunity; $15,000 for capital projects; $580 for state-mandated life and safety repairs; and almost $577,500 for working cash needs, according to Kurr’s presentation to the board. The district also expects to take in $4.9 million in revenue to pay down its debt.
Although revenue is less than spending for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the situation has been reversed in the past, Kurr said. That left the district with high fund balances, which district officials hope eventually to shrink, he said.
This year, the district’s overall total fund balance will drop almost $340,000; although the individual education fund balance will rise more than $4 million by the end of the year, the operations and maintenance fund balance will drop by more than $3 million and the capital projects fund balance will shrink by more than $1.6 million, according to Kurr’s presentation. Meanwhile, debt service and transportation balances will drop by smaller amounts.
He said district officials expect to abate roughly $1.2 million in taxes this year. The district also expects that a mid-year bond refunding should absorb more of those revenues, if the board approves it in March, he said.
“Longer term, we want to maintain our fund balances at 50 to 60 percent of our annual expenses,” Kurr said.
Betsy Owens, a member of the board’s finance committee, said Sept. 30 that the 2016-2017 budget mirrors the goal of bringing revenues in line with expenses, with a combination of tax rollbacks and a newly stringent budget process.
“I think it was very important the residents should know we have a tighter budget, so that we don’t have unspent funds at the end of the year contributing to that buildup,” she said. “It’s also important that they know we’ve been able to accomplish that, while still investing in education and curriculum.”
The district budget presentation can be viewed by accessing the Sept. 20 meeting packet at www.winnetka36.org.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy