North Cook News

The Maine Township School District School board recently voted on its new budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

“So I know it is a long document, we publish it in what I call a narrative version, which gives you a look at what each fund is, what areas in the fund, what happened in those areas,” Mary Kalou, assistant superintendent for business at the district, said during the meeting. “As well as the legal budget, which is just a document that has lots of numbers without any explanation to what the numbers mean. And that is the official document that we filed with the state.”

The district’s financial report showed it spent $26 million more than budgeted in 2021.

The budget was opened to public display on July 1 and a meeting was held on Aug. 15 for community members to discuss any concerns or questions they had before the budget was due at the end of September. The board passed the budget in its Sept. 6 meeting.

In both the new and old budgets, the district notes its significant source of revenue is from property taxes.

The revenue for the school district features higher-than-normal corporate profits, which led to higher corporate personal property replacement tax, a tax payment that can be collected by local government agencies. The school also had new revenue from two new state grants, one of which will fund internship support and one will go towards the school-based health center.

The board will meet again at 6 p.m. on Oct. 3 at the District Administrative Offices on 1177 South Dee Road in Park Ridge.

Salaries and employee benefits constitute about 80% of the district's budget. This number has been kept at CPI, or equal costs and rewards, thanks to recent retirements and turnover rates. There was an increase in the budget from the tentative to final plans due to the addition of the teacher assistants in the salary numbers, increasing expenditures by just under $129,000.