D161 2011-12 Budget Passes Amid Two Members' Objections

Even with an early recess sparked by arguments over potential Open Meetings Act violations, the was able to attend to some agenda items at Wednesday's meeting at . 

The board approved the district's 2011-12 budget, but not without two members opposing it. Board members Dee Molinare and Sean William Doyle voted against the budget, citing concerns over its $2.17 million shortfall. 

The budget projects about $38.6 million in spending but only about $36.5 million in revenue. Last year, the district operated on about $36.6 million with about $36.9 million in revenue, resulting in an approximately $288,000 surplus.

Areas of increased spending from last year include:

• A 5-percent contract increase in base salaries for teachers
• A 7-percent increase in health benefits for district employees
• $425,000 for one-time roof repairs to Arbury Hills School and Hilda A. Walker School
• $360,000 increase in budgetd staff positions (offset by a $300,000 decrease in administrators' salaries)
• $325,000 increase for the principal and interest on district construction bonds
• $200,000 increase in board spending because of legal fees and a one-time early retirement payment to former Superintendent Keith Pain
• $190,000 increase in transportation costs because of higher fuel costs and added bus routes
• $160,000 increase in special education costs

The district also will see a $1 million decrease in state and federal funding because of new properties added to the tax rolls and an increase in the property tax rate.

Dean Gerdes, the district's director of business, said the spending and revenue estimates are conservative.

"I would consider this an austere budget," he said when asked by Doyle if there were any cost-cutting measures that could be applied to the overage. 

If the shortfall can't be eliminated by the end of the fiscal year, the difference will be covered by the district's reserves, Gerdes said. Reserves are projected to be about $19 million by June 2012, the end of the fiscal year. That's enough to cover about six months of operation for the D161, he added.

"We're in good shape if there are no negative surprises," Gerdes said, adding that if two or three one-time payments are excluded, this year's budget is relatively the same as last year's. 

Molinare, however, said after the meeting that there are added expenses, such as recent new staff hires and at Summit Hill Junior High and schools, that should be re-examined.

"I hope the board and the district look for ways to make an impact on the budget," she said. 

Doyle also warned against relying too heavily on reserves to make up for overspending when cost-cutting should be applied.

"In these types of tough times, a short-term solution is to draw on reserves," he said after the meeting. "But you can't keep doing that long-term."