The Indian Prairie District 204 School Board signed off on a $430 million budget for the 2022-23 school year Monday that’s 3.7% higher than current spending plan.
Matt Shipley, D204 chief school business official, attributed the increase to a growth in property values in Aurora, Bolingbrook, Naperville and Plainfield, all or parts of which make up district and from where its 26,000 students hail.
About 76% of the district’s revenue comes from local property taxes, according to school documents. Its remaining funding is from the state or federal governments or other sources.
“Property taxes have been the main revenue source throughout the history of the district,” Shipley said. Most of the money is earmarked for employee salaries and benefits, budget documents show.
The budget includes an $11.9 million shortfall in capital improvements fund, which will be covered by money taken from the surplus fund, he said. They did the same thing in the 2021-22 budget to cover a $9 million deficit, he said.
“We are funding (the shortfall) primarily from our fund balance that we carried over from prior years,” Shipley said after the meeting. “We have $40 million in the capital projects funds. We plan to spend $50 million over the next five years.”
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Board members said making school building repairs, especially for structural problems like leaky roofs, must be a priority.
This will be the largest building work effort undertaken since Metea Valley High School in Aurora was built in 2009, officials said.
Speaking at the meeting, board member Mark Rising said he is happy with the spending plan.
“This district lives within our means,” he said. “We all know that it is not easy (to balance a budget). We are also the least or one of the least funded districts in DuPage County. And we still have one of the best school districts in the state.”
Budget documents presented at the meeting showed the district spends $13,423 on each student. The state average is $15,693, and Batavia School District 101 is one of the highest, spending $18,861 for each student, documents show.
Board President Laurie Donahue urged the public to examine the budget to learn about where the money is going.
“I think it does a really nice job — again — of explaining the position of our district financially,” she said.
The budget can be viewed at the district’s website, ipsd.org.
Joseph Ruzich is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.