Dist. 135 Budget: Documents Illustrate Deficit

ORLAND PARK, IL — Officials at District 135 released the presentation from Monday night's meeting that illustrates how the school board is trying to repair years of deficit spending.

I am going through the documents and will be interviewing administrators to report a full story with answers. In the meantime, I thought I'd share some information many of you were asking for at Monday's meeting.

You can download the presentation here. You'll see fluctuating revenue, state mandates and proposals for cuts or savings.

I am piecing together the issuance of bonds and how that affected the district, particularly when it comes to tax levies. Taxes have not been raised for years, and that is an issue that is clearly front and center from the board.

Here's a snippet of discussion from a Committee of the Whole meeting on Oct. 9, 2018: "Debt Options - Mr. Bryk explained that debt accumulated in 2005 to assist with additions and improvements at Jerling, Liberty, and Prairie is currently being paid from general funds. He noted that the issue could be fixed by issuing bonds, which would then allow the District to use the levy to pay operating expenses instead of paying debt out of it. Mr. Bryk discussed two options: Option one would place an average increase of $39 on taxpayers over the next seven years; and option two would place an average increase of $120 on taxpayers over the next three years. After the two options were proposed, the Board expressed that they do not feel the District is doing enough to close the gap ourselves before enlisting the assistance of the taxpayers, and they would like to have more information on debt reduction options before making a decision. Dr. Skogsberg noted that the previous Board left money on the table when they decided to not raise the levy, and that is the primary cause of the deficit spending. The Board added that additional programming and unfunded mandates added to the deficit. The Board agreed to discuss this in more detail at a future meeting."

Finally, here is what enrollment looks like in the district.

As I said, I'll report this out and come back with a full story. I have calls out to administrators now. Feel free to contact me with questions and concerns at erika.hobbs@patch.com.