Health & Fitness
Looking For Solutions
Analysis of the current and future financial issues with District 304
There Are No Easy Answers to the Geneva School District Issues
Based on recent articles and comments, I think that everyone can agree on one thing…the Geneva Community School District, like most local districts, is facing serious financial issues. That might be the only thing that people can agree on. Arguing about whether the teachers are fairly compensated isn’t going to solve the real crisis that the community is facing. Making false statements that residents received $3 million in property tax abatements isn’t going to help either.
In order to solve the problem, everyone must understand it. Listed below are the expenses for the school year 2010-2011 and those proposed for 2012-2013. Clearly, when compared to other districts, we are spending too much on debt service repayment, operations & maintenance and transportation and not enough on education. The proposed budget for the current school year plans for a $3.9 million deficit. The problem is only going to continue to grow as debt service repayment increases every year until 2020-2021. If enrollment remains steady, in nine years we will be paying $4,218 a year per student just for debt service repayment! Enrollment has actually declined for the last three years.
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2010-11 School Year
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% of Yearly Expenses Spent On
District
Enrollment
Debt Service Yearly Payment $
Education
Debt
Operations
Transportation
Debt / Student
Geneva
5,910
14,033,000
54.6%
15.2%
12.3%
9.5%
$2,374
East Aurora
13,902
11,976,000
76.2%
9.1%
7.1%
3.1%
$ 861
West Aurora
12,088
11,077,000
78.2%
8.3%
7.1%
4.1%
$ 916
Batavia
6,296
10,520,000
55.3%
10.8%
5.5%
3.3%
$1,670
Burlington Central
3,434
5,850,000
66.5%
13.5%
8.5%
7.2%
$1,703
Dundee-Crown
20,274
22,342,000
69.1%
9.5%
6.6%
7.9%
$1,102
Kaneland
4,788
8,616,000
52.2%
11.8%
5.9%
5.7%
$1,799
Elgin
40,689
40,681,000
73.7%
9.4%
5.2%
5.8%
$ 999
St. Charles
13,836
18,182,000
72.1%
11.0%
8.8%
4.8%
$1,314
Source: NIU Interactive School Report
Proposed
District
Enrollment
Debt Service Yearly Payment $
Education
Debt
Operations
Transportation
Debt / Student
Geneva
5,910
15,900,000
59%
17%
13%
8%
$ 2,690
Source: tentative budget presentation August 13, 2012
Listed below, from the William Blair & Company’s presentation in October of 2011, are the yearly debt service payments that we are scheduled to make. There are some minor changes to this schedule based on the $3 million that was paid on the debt last year. Debt service payments do not come under the 5% tax cap law. The issue is plan and simple; how are we going to afford the huge increase we face on a yearly basis. $25 million is more than a quarter of the current school budget of $93 million.
School Year
Scheduled Repayment
% Increase Each Year
2012-13
$ 16,138,595
2013-14
$ 17,474,570
8.28%
2014-15
$ 18,903,473
8.18%
2015-16
$ 20,465,783
8.26%
2016-17
$ 22,141,133
8.19%
2017-18
$ 23,794,798
7.47%
2018-19
$ 24,443,250
2.73%
2019-20
$ 24,590,110
0.60%
2020-21
$ 24,928,505
1.38%
2021-22
$ 19,344,395
-22.40%
2022-23
$ 19,346,975
0.01%
2023-24
$ 21,857,908
12.98%
2024-25
$ 19,204,313
-12.14%
2025-26
$ 19,213,363
0.05%
2026-27
$ 19,209,750
-0.02%
TOTAL
$ 311,056,921
From William Blair Presentation October 2011
We can’t ignore the perfect storm that started three years ago and will continue for least the next nine years. It will be impossible for local property taxes to cover, in addition to the regular budget, our debt service payments and other normal increases in expenses. This doesn’t even include the possibility that the state will make the local districts pay for teacher retirement.
As you can see, this issue isn’t about if teachers should get a salary increase. This issue is about the long-term sustainability of the entire school district and of the community. Unless we start working on long-term solutions immediately, we will not survive this mess. Tough decisions need to be made and they need to be made now.
So what are the solutions? Certainly no one has all the answers but at a recent town hall, the audience discussed issues that they would like to be considered and explored. Some might be viable, some not. The intent is not to rip apart possible solutions. The intent is to start a dialogue and brainstorm about any and all possible solutions. The question is simple … How can the community face our problems and continue to offer a quality education to our children?
Constructive comments are more than welcome.
Possible Solutions From the Community
- Cut 20% of the transportation budget
- Determine what the issues are with the HVAC systems and get competitive bids to repair
- Look to reduce administrative positions and salaries
- Tenure is no longer a viable benefit for teachers
- Balance the budget on a yearly basis – no more building of excessive reserve and approval of maximum tax levies.
- Spend the reserves to pay down the debt. It is the result of over-taxation and should be used to benefit the entire community
- Create a yearly budget based on a realistic revenue requirement. Don’t just start with the previous budget and add on.
- Consolidate buildings for maximum use vs. capacity
- Eliminate the step and lane teacher compensation plan. Increases should not be automatically given because of another year of service.
- Eliminate the district paying 100% of medical premiums for any employees
- Explore the possibility of leasing out Coultrap building to private enterprise while retaining ownership
- Explore any and all ways to reduce the debt service repayment, including early repayment and extending the maturity dates
- Find a solution to teacher compensation that is fair to teachers and the community. Explore salary ranges based on what subjects are taught and the relationship to the core curriculum
All presentations and video of the town hall meeting are available at http://www.genevataxfacts.org/
