Amid Cries for Taxpayer Relief, District 304 OKs Balanced Budget

The School District 304 Board of Education Monday approved a $90 million balanced budget for the 2011-12 school year that began Aug. 1.

Along the way, board members and administrators pointed out $10 million in spending cuts over the past three years, as well as dwindling state and federal aid, but some residents at the meeting said that wasn't enough.

“I want to know when this budget is going to go down,” said Gail Ryan. “My property taxes are $18,000—$13,000 of which I’m paying to you—and I can no longer afford you. It sounds like this budget is going to continue to skyrocket.”

"The costs of education continue to rise," School Board President Tim Moran said. "We have spent the better part of the last five years ratcheting down the cost of maintaining this district. We work very hard finding economies of scale."

The budget shows small surpluses in the education fund, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and bond and interest fund, with a $416,915 deficit in the Operation and Maintenance Fund. Assistant Superintendent Donna Oberg attributed the O&M deficit to the costs of building repairs and upgrades to classroom technology.

A nearly $4 million surplus in the Transportation Fund reflects biennial savings from the state’s bus buyback program, she added.

The Working Cash Fund, which collects interest earned on district bank accounts to use for short-term loans between funds, has shrunk from $100,000-plus in 2006 to $15,000 this year.

"We’re basically getting nothing in interest rates, just like everybody else," Oberg said.

To balance the budget, officials:

• Cut capital improvement plan costs from $2.5 million to $1.8 million
• Froze salaries for all staff except for certified teachers, who will receive the raises stipulated by their contract, and
• Consolidated a number of bus routes, which allowed the district to lay off one bus driver, not replace five retiring drivers and reduce its bus fleet from 59 to 52. The exact number of bus routes will be determined after school is in session and final ridership figures are in.

"We will have at least four, three-tier routes," Oberg said. "Some kids are going to be on buses longer, and we expect we’ll hear from parents about that. But with state transportation funding decreasing, there’s not much else we can do."

Mark Cox said the board should have asked teachers to forego their raises this year.

"Everyone else is taking a pay freeze. What are teachers doing as a body so our property taxes can level off? It was totally irresponsible for you not to go to them and ask to reopen the contract," he said.

"We entered into that contract in good faith. They’ve done nothing wrong," Moran replied. "If you ask unions to open their contracts in bad times, they’re going to want to open them in good times. I don’t think we want to set that precedent."

Moran added that the district will cite the recession and school aid cuts when contract talks open this fall.

Donn Dears expressed concern that the district will have to keep raising taxes to pay off building bonds over the next decade.

"I beseech you to cut our expenditures in the future. Otherwise you will hurt this community quite a bit,” he said.

Board member Matt Henry urged residents to pressure their state representatives and senators to restore state school aid to the district.

"Every board member here is a Geneva taxpayer. All of us understand the pressures of living in this community. Many problems with our budget can be tackled by contacting your state legislators to give us some relief in Springfield," he said.

The final budget will be posted on the district’s website, www.geneva304.org.