Plainfield School District 202 is projecting a $1.8 million operating fund deficit in its updated budget.
The school board on Monday approved putting its amended budget on public display for 30 days.
The $1.8 million deficit is an improvement over last September’s anticipated deficit of about $8.9 million. At the time, the school board was required by law to file its budget, but noted that it would be updating the budget throughout the year and filing an amendment this winter.
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Among the savings include eliminating some positions that were included in the budget as placeholders only in the event that increases in student enrollment would force the district to fill those jobs, said Angela Smith, the district’s assistant superintendent for business and operations. Many of those jobs had been cut in prior years, but not removed from the budget, and the district has no intention of filling them.
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The district also received additional Title I revenue and has new energy savings, Smith said. Money was also saved in transportation because fewer bus routes were needed.
The board will vote on the amended budget at its March 18 meeting.
Financial woes are likely to continue for the district, mostly due to the unpredictability of state funding, according to Michael Frances, the senior financial advisor for PMA Financial Network.
The group predicts salaries will rise about 1.5 percent per year and health benefits costs will increase by 8 percent per year.
Also, the state is likely to decrease its general state aid. State funding for school districts was prorated to 89 percent, and that may decrease again, Smith said.
If the state prorates its general state aid to about 83 percent, the district is likely to face a $3.9 million deficit in fiscal year 2014, according to the PMA projections.
If general state aid remained the same, the district would have a slight surplus, Smith said.
The impact on the district would also be greatly felt if the state transfers its teacher retirement pension obligations to the local school districts.
Adding insult to injury, Edward Hospital received a tax-exempt charitable status, and District 202 will have to pay back $1 million in taxes the hospital has already paid, Supt. John Harper said.
“The impact on a school district … is highly significant,” Harper said.
The district will also lose $250,000 in annual taxes the hospital once paid, he said.
“Our taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill for them becoming tax exempt,” board member Rod Westfall said. “It’s asinine.”
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