Average Homeowner Could See $191 Increase in School Taxes

School officials are breathing a sigh of relief knowing after a partial restoration of state aid plugged a budget hole. But that doesn't mean taxpayers see zero increases–the district's proposed budget will jump nearly $191 on the averaged assessed home just shy of $800,000 if approved by voters April 27.

Although regular programs and personnel see a line-item decrease, Assistant Superintendent of Business Angelo DeSimone said that's largely a result of .

"We're not cutting any classes, we're not cutting any programs, we're not cutting any teachers," DeSimone said.

So why the increase then?

Health and 'bennies' costing a pretty penny

Instead, the increase comes from a jump in pension payments and health care. The latter is projected to rise 12 percent though at this stage it's still just an educated guess. Employee benefits are made up of worker's compensation, PERS benefits (pension), tuition, DeSimone said.

"Our biggest increase [roughly $100,000] is in our employee benefits line and that's assuming a 12 percent increase. Our whole budget is going up less than the increase in the benefit line."

Basically, the only line item that went up besides PERS is health insurance," DeSimone said. Health care costs could conservatively rise from $10.77 million to $12.06 million assuming all goes well, though with a 25 percent jump in 2010-2011, that's no guarantee.

Because of the benefit and health items–along with debt service mostly toward the $48 million bond referendum–the proposed 2011-2012 general budget reflects a $1.2 million growth and is within the mandated 2% cap.

The move increases the locally-supported up to $81.32 million with an added $3.17 million in bonded debt. The total budget is $92.45 million and the proposal calls for a $23.94 cent increase per $100,000 in assessed home value.

Still, the administrators reported it's a stable budget that's a lot easier to stomach for the district and residents. Said DeSimone: "To keep everything in prospective, we basically have a zero increase budget going from year to year."

However, what may look like nearly a $600,000 reduction in regular programs throughout the nine schools, DeSimone said, is not the case.

"One of the reasons this number dips is because . . . we have supervisors who no longer teach. That's part of the reduction here." He added, "all said in done, everybody's got a slot. There's no cuts in any of these line items."

"Principals still teach as well," DeSimone remarked.

The budget, of course, still largely hinges on the teacher's salary. The district is currently in negotiation with the REA and its insistence on budgeting at a zero percent increase seems to be a clear sign it doesn't expect to pay more than the $43.59 million it already pays. The contract with teachers expires at the end of June.

The district had initially projected it could have needed to before a partial restoration of state aid assuaged those concerns.

Changing line items

Many other fluctuations come as a result of the district reorganizing line items, making it difficult to compare on an annual basis, DeSimone has said.

For instance, the school administration line item is reduced because supervisors are now in the instructional services line.

"We changed their span of responsibility away from just the high school into either K-12 or 6-12 responsibility," Superintendent Dr. Daniel Fishbein explained. "That's not something we can dictate, that's something the state tells us we have to do."

"It's about another $100,000 we did not add to Instruction Services," DeSimone said.

There are, of course, some upticks in costs. Business administration and technology is also going up about $165,000 but that's largely because Skyward (a software system) costs are increasing, and grants no longer pay for Skyward.

The board is not expected to have to pull funds from the capital reserve in 2011-2012; at one point earlier in the process it expected to draw from the reserve considerably.

And then there are the unknowns. Beyond just health care projections, some numbers in there now may not be as they are now.

There were no public updates of numbers the board requested needed greater clarity, like the $150,000 reduction in guidance and the $127,000 reduction in the library's line item.

And that partial state aid restoration?

Charles Reilly jokingly said given the moves the state has taken to cut aid in recent years, it's not necessarily a guarantee that will remain. Sheila Brogan also said extraordinary aid could also be at risk, and the state of federal Title 1 aid is also unsettled.

"The state giveth and the state taketh away," Fishbein said earlier in the meeting, in a parable-laden reference to the power of the state in impacting its budget with little warning.

Despite the unknowns and unclears, the budget is in a far better condition than it was last year administrators said and the board canceled the March 14 meeting.

The board will present its budget to the village council, possibly on the 21st of March. If the budget fails to pass by voters, the council can force the board to make further reductions.