'Wrong Directions' For Elmhurst D-205 Budget

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst is wealthier than most towns in Illinois, so its school district gets far less money from the state government.

This next school year, more than 90 percent of Elmhurst School District 205's budget is coming from local sources, mainly property taxes. That compares to a statewide average of two-thirds.

A few years ago, the state enacted a law that means even more money for poorer districts. The infusion of new money was called "evidence-based funding."

At Tuesday's school board meeting, member Karen Stuefen said $600 million in such funding was going to school districts.

"However, for Elmhurst, we don't get any of that because the quote-and-quote formula they use shows that our local revenues from the state's perspective should fund our public education – bottom line, in layman's terms," she said.

Stuefen said it was important for taxpayers to understand that.

"Even though we weren't getting much – 7 percent – it's still millions, a million or more, which helps," she said. "I understand that our budget looks good today, but it could very quickly look not good. I want people to understand there are a lot of different factors here that are going in wrong directions for us for the future."

She said the district should be grateful to local taxpayers because they step up to help.