Lyons Township High Not Short On Cash – Yet

LA GRANGE, IL – Cook County is behind by $45 million in property tax distributions for Lyons Township High School, an official said this week.

The county finally issued property tax bills in mid-November, four months later than usual. The payments were due this week.

As a result, schools and other public bodies are seeing their bank balances dwindle.

Normally, the county starts distributing property tax money to public bodies as the money starts to flow in. This year, the county has yet to make such distributions, said Brian Stachacz, Lyons Township High's top finance official.

He also said the county has not communicated with the high school or other entities about the status of the money. So he is getting what little information he can through his professional organization.

"The only thing we've heard from (the county) is when they jump in front of the media and say, 'Well, we've had problems with the new software,'" Stachacz said to the school board.

To address the problem, the school board on Monday approved transferring up to $4 million from the working cash account to the main fund to address the problem.

If the school sees no distributions through February, it will need to undertake short-term borrowing to make ends meet, Stachacz said. He said he has been told by his trade group not to expect any money until Feb. 1.

"These are some of the lowest fund balances since I've been here because we've really been operating since March of 2025 without any substantial property tax dollars," Stachacz said. "This is one of those times that having a healthy, reliable fund balance is a good thing."

He promised to keep a close watch on the situation.

Property taxes make up a vast majority of the school's income.

On Wednesday, Patch left a message with the Cook County treasurer's office.