By Andy Dahn
BLOOMINGTON – A newly approved 2015-2016 budget and the effect of a recent sales tax increase by the City of Bloomington were among the topics discussed by the District 87 school board Wednesday night.
Superintendent Barry Reilly said an additional quarter percent increase may not have been popular with the public, but could have provided help to another critical community need. It also would have put the district on par with other counties in the area.
“Education is a big part of that,” Reilly said. “It’s not just District 87 and Unit Five, it’s every school district in this county. That’s what I don’t want people to miss.”
The board also approved the new budget that projects a $1.4 million deficit in the education fund, down from a $2 million deficit last year. Reilly said a lack of a state budget and the possibility of big changes to the school funding formula are taking their toll on the district’s reserve funds.
“We build those up in anticipation that we may hit a couple two or three years of some challenging times,” said Reilly. “But this is much more than that. This is the tsunami of deficits, it just continues and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight.”
Those possible changes include a property tax freeze and a pension shift, things Reilly said could mean big issues for the district.
“If you don’t have additional revenues to offset that, the delivery of instruction to kids will be devastatingly affected,” Reilly said. “Much like what the City of Bloomington went through with their budget task force presenting some very difficult options, you will find that it won’t be too far down the road before your school districts are going to be doing the very same thing.”
Reilly added that he’s disappointed that lawmakers in Springfield have yet to agree on a state budget, meaning the district has to closely monitor their spending.
“We will look for ways to save money and try to reduce our anticipated expenses,” said Reilly. “And in some ways, the farther it goes along in that budget process without a budget, that will cause us to pay even closer attention.”
Reilly also said the district will continue discussion with city groups and officials about enhancing their partnerships moving forward.
Andy Dahn can be reached at [email protected].
