West Northfield School District 31 Board of Education met Sept. 24.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
CALL TO ORDER
The Budget Hearing of the Board of Education was called to order by President, Melissa Choo Valentinas at 7:03pm.
ROLL CALL
Board Members:
Present:
Robert Resis
Jeffrey Steres
Nancy Hammer
Melissa Choo Valentinas
Laura Greenberg arrived 7:05pm
Absent: Daphne Frank
Maria Vasilopoulos
District Administration:
Present: Dr. Erin K. Murphy, Superintendent of Schools
Catherine Lauria, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations
Erica Berger, Principal Winkelman Elementary School
April Miller, Principal Field Middle School
Janine Gruhn, Director of Special Education
Jennie Winters, Director of Curriculum and Instruction
A quorum of the Board was confirmed by President, Melissa Choo Valentinas.
PRESENTATION
Assistant Superintendent, Cathy Lauria reported that there were minor changes from last month’s adoption of the tentative budget. Revenues, salaries and expenses had not changed. Benefits had a reduction of $460.00 which was due to an Education Fund insurance adjustments. Purchase services had a $36,500 increase in the transportation budget due to some additional costs we may occur for the year as well as the cost for a special education study. Supplies had a net increase of $5,700. These changes amounted to a $41,740 increase to the final budget.
We continue to have a balanced budget with the final figures. We also show positive fund balances expected for all funds by the end of the school year, 6/30/2020. No deficit reduction plan is needed and the estimated summary of cash transactions show all positive balances by year end. All forms have been included in the board packet and include the CFO’s Certificate of Revenues and the Fina Budget in the required ISBE format.
Assistant Superintendent, Cathy Lauria, also summarized the five year projections. Wherein she stated that the assumptions used to create the projections included a 3-3.5% increase in salaries, 5% in benefits which included benefits from retirement incentives known to date and potential future intents to retire. The projections also included assumptions on continued impact fees from the Red Seal / Mission Hills project as the development continues on Techny Road, as well as continued gradual receipts from tax incentive on the Astellas project. This increase will continue until 2026. Due to unknowns for next year, an increase of 20% for transportation costs has been added for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Evidence Based Funding, formerly called General State Aid, will hold steady for the district with minimal increase moving forward. This year, any extra funds we could expect to receive would be about $1,100 more than the prior year. Interest earnings have been strong due to the bond dollars left to be spent but will begin to decrease significantly this year due to expanding the funds as we complete projects.
The CPI numbers used for the projections were based on 2019 cost of living increase for this year. The CPI - All Urban of 1.9% was used for this upcoming year with an assumption of averaging about 2% for each year moving forward.
The graph summary illustrates the operating funds through 2025, which reflect a fund balance of over 50%. This is above the Board of Education fund balance goal of 35%.
Member Nancy Hammer questioned how the other districts compare to us regarding debt service. Mrs. Lauria stated that debt service Is not included in projection information because it is not an operating cost but each district is allowed a different amount of debt service. The limit is determined by the level they had in place when a law passed years ago regarding tax caps. Each district’s debt service extension base (DSEB) (limit as to how much principal and interest can be levied for debt) became their maximum limit. If you did not have any debt service, you were then not allowed to levy for any debt. District 31’s DSEB was intact at that time but districts are limited to the amount of interest and principal they can levy for debt service payments.
Member Jeffrey Steres thanked Mrs. Lauria for the projections and questioned the revenues that exceed expenses for 2020 regarding the budget now and 2021. In 2022 and moving forward, projections show that our expenses with the salary increases exceed our revenues. Mrs. Lauria confirmed that statement. She added that though expenses are exceeding revenues for those years, it has been the pattern that actual spending is less and we have had surplus years. Also, the revenues shown for previous years reflect the effect of numerous smaller tax refunds but an estimate of refunds is not included in revenue projections moving forward due to the uncertainty surrounding them. Overall, the district has experienced tax collections of 97% and above each year.
Vice President Laura Greenberg stated that being involved in a referendum that did not pass years back, this is one of the healthiest budgets that the district has seen. Vice President Laura Greenberg stated that this is a testament to the financial management of the budget.
ADJOURN
Vice President Laura Greenberg made a motion to adjourn. Member Jeffrey Steres seconded the motion.
Final Resolution:
Aye: Robert Resis, Laura Greenberg, Melissa Choo Valentinas, Nancy Hammer, Jeffrey Steres
Nay: None.
The motion passed 5:0 at 7:15pm.
https://www.district31.net/cms/lib/IL01001635/Centricity/Domain/452/September%2024%202019%20Regular%20Session%20Board%20Minutes.pdf
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