Maine Township District 207 Raises Tax Levy

When Maine Township High School District 207's board approved a 2.5 percent increase in the property tax levy at its Dec. 6 meeting, it represented a last resort after already making deep budget cuts to reduce deficit spending.

After going through a year that saw a 13 percent reduction in the district's work force—80 percent of all expenditures are payroll or benefits according to assistant superintendent for business Mary Kalou—to shave $6 million off the deficit, increased taxes were the only way to maintain an acceptable level of services, she explained.

"If your tax bill is $6,000 and District 207's portion of that is 25 percent or $1,500, then your taxes will be $40.50 more [than they were this year]," Kalou said. "The district is limited by the CPI (Consumer Price Index) when it raises the levy," she added explaining why the increase was 0.1 percent for 2010 forcing a larger deficit.

Maine Township's high schools receive 80 percent of their funding from property taxes with the rest coming from other sources like the State of Illinois.

"We can't count on that [money from the state] very well right now," said Kalou about Illinois' budget woes.

added Kalou, explaining that assessed valuation could increase in parts of the district and decline in others. The final amount of tax due depends on assessed value, she said.

Payroll, benefits eat up 80 percent of budget

Approximately 80 percent of the district's budget is spent on payroll and benefits according to Kalou, with some of it tied into contracts that incorporate automatic raises running through 2012. Additionally, gas and electric costs are primarily beyond the board's control.

Anticipating the 2011 budget constraints, 130 jobs, including teachers, were eliminated in 2010 to enable the board to pass a budget with a smaller deficit.

"The teachers have an increase of 5 percent built into their contract this year," Kalou said. "Some of these costs are beyond our control."

Also, further staff reductions will be the result of attrition through retirement with an inordinately large number of teachers stepping down at the end of 2012 according to Kalou. Other savings are being achieved the same way.

"Two secretaries are retiring, one of them part-time," Kalou said. "We're combining those responsibilities into one job."

In 2009, the district plucked $10 million from its surplus, trimmed that amount to $6 million in 2010 and anticipates using $4 million next year.

"We're into deficit spending," Kalou said. "We're using our fund balance, which is like a savings account, to cover the deficit."

Acceptable fund balance set for discussion

Prudent financial practices require the surplus not exceed an acceptable percentage of total cash available, which has slipped from 80 to 71 percent with a third year of deficit spending at hand.

"We're in the process of setting fund balance policy," Kalou saide. "We haven't had to think about that before and now we do. It could be in the 50 percent range." She this figure is well above what many municipalities and taxing authorities consider acceptable.

The district is continuing to tighten its belt to ensure that services remain at their current level. Summer school will be four days instead of five to reduce air conditioning use and thermostat settings are set lower in the winter months.

"When you come in on Monday morning, it's chilly with the thermostat set back all weekend," said Kalou referring to the resetting measures used to save money on utility expense.

The final major component of the district's budget, capital expenditures, is becoming virtually nonexistent.

"We're not getting anything new unless it breaks and we're repairing it when we can," Kalou said.

The school board voted 6-1 in favor of the levy increase with Edward Mueller casting the lone dissenting vote. He was unavailable for comment.