Elgin District U46 predicts ‘balanced’ 2011-12 budget

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

ELGIN — It’s been a tough year for Illinois school districts, thanks to the state cutting its education spending and falling behind on what payments it had promised.

And although Elgin School District U46 is expecting more cuts and missed payments , it still is predicting an almost-balanced budget for the coming 2011-12 school year. That’s according to the tentative budget presented at Monday night’s U46 Board of Education meeting.

“We made significant reductions last year, and we’ve lived with them. It was painful, but we lived with them,” U46 spokesman Tony Sanders said. “That has put us in a better position this school year.”

The school district presented the proposed budget, with expenditures totaling $464.4 million and revenues $464.1 million. That would take the district’s existing fund balance down from $91.1 million to $90.8 million.

Also putting U46 in a better position this year is money from the federal EduJobs bill and the Illinois General Assembly’s overturning of Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto of Senate Bill 2499, both passed last fall.

“By the time it’s done, we should have a balanced budget, and we should be able to contribute to” retiring some of the district’s $51 million structural deficit as well, Sanders said.

But he said the state currently owes U46 $23 million — more than it did at its worst last school year . It has received only one of four categorical payments it is owed by the state and is budgeting as if it will receive only three, U46 Chief Operations Officer Jeff King added.

There are several other unknowns the district is basing its budget on, including how much the state will pay U46 in general state aid for each student. The district conservatively is budgeting a 1 percent increase in GSA in the state budget, King said, adding that Quinn has proposed a 2 percent increase.

Quinn also has proposed a 10 percent decrease in the state budget for school transportation, King noted. The district also is budgeting that it will receive about $1 million less from a preschool grant that has been made competitive, he said. King said he’s unsure how the pension reform legislation that passed the Illinois Senate last week could affect the district .

And, King said, “All of our contracts are up, so essentially all the numbers you see in the document now are placeholders.”

“There will be changes. There will be significant changes.”

Already, U46 has cut about 312 employees, 132 for reasons that are not budget-related.

The school board will vote on its 2011-12 budget in September, Sanders said.