'Cash Pile': Elmhurst D205 Ends Debate On What To Sock Away

ELMHURST, IL – To the very end, Elmhurst school board member Jim Collins argued against raising the threshold for the amount of money that the district keeps on hand.

In a final vote on the issue Tuesday, Collins was alone among his Elmhurst School District 205 colleagues in opposition.

On such issues, Collins used to find common ground with former members such as Karen Stuefen, who decided against running again this year.

In the 2021 board election, Collins was the top vote-getter of six candidates. As the longest-serving member, he has been on the board for 14 years.

In his comments Tuesday, Collins said the district administration had recommended keeping 10 to 15 percent of the district's annual expenses on hand during the cash low point, which is May 31.

But he said the board settled on 15 to 20 percent. That, he said, was not done based on an analysis of unexpected expenses.

Rather, he said he heard board members' "feelings about how much they would like this cash pile to be."

The policy, Collins said, translates into keeping $20 million to $34 million on hand. He noted the new Lincoln Elementary School cost $31 million.

"So we have the cost of a new elementary school in cash on our books at our low cash point under this new policy," Collins said.

"So here are my fears. It's easy to spend other people's money," he said. With the higher threshold, "it is likely the administration recommends the board levy the maximum tax increase allowed by law each year."

He predicted it would be harder for the board to balance the budget in higher inflationary times than in the past decade of low inflation.

"I know that tens of millions of dollars sitting in the bank doesn't improve the quality of education in Elmhurst," Collins said. "In my opinion, the policy takes too much from our taxpayers, and I know that Elmhurst deserves better."

No one else commented on the issue. But it has been much debated for more than a year.

At a board meeting last month, board President Athena Arvanitis described the new policy as in line with "our conservative fiscal approach for budgeting and spending in our district."