D100 referenda summary

[buzz]

This is from the D100 Accounting Miracle topic that Ted posted earlier.

" In other words, the district is applying 18 months of property taxes to a 12 month period in order to boost the reserve funds from an accouting perspective!  This accounting trick will keep the district off of the state's fnancial warning list  and the district will not have to provide the state a Deficit Reduction Plan next year if it runs the expected $4.2 million dollar deficit."

What happens now that the referenda have failed ?  Won't they have to initiate drastic budget cuts to avoid hitting the warning list the following year ? 

[Ted]

This is from the D100 Accounting Miracle topic that Ted posted earlier.

" In other words, the district is applying 18 months of property taxes to a 12 month period in order to boost the reserve funds from an accouting perspective!  This accounting trick will keep the district off of the state's fnancial warning list  and the district will not have to provide the state a Deficit Reduction Plan next year if it runs the expected $4.2 million dollar deficit."

What happens now that the referenda have failed ?  Won't they have to initiate drastic budget cuts to avoid hitting the warning list the following year ?

  The failure of the referenda doesn't affect this because the accounting last summer pushed up the ending balances in the funds.

  The accounting last summer pushed up the ending balances by $8 million dollars - from $9 million upto $17 million.

  This avoids the district getting on the state's list. The rule is that if the budget deficit is more than 33% of the starting balances, the district gets on the warning list and has to submit a deficit reduction plan.

  Since the fund balances, on paper, are now at $17 million, the district just needs have a budget deficit under $5.66 million.  The expection is that next year, the district budget deficit will be $4.2 million, so the district will be in the clear next year.

However, if no cuts are done to reduce the expected deficit, then the district would be in the same position the year after next.

The accounting last summer gave the district some breathing room for a couple of years but if the district expects to continue to have a $4 million deficit, then something would have to be done - either reductions or bond re-financing to boost the fund balances above $20 million (or both).

[buzz]

thanks

[Mustang84]

Don't worry HB 3933 has been introduced that will allow the district to extend the allowable debt limit.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

New superintendent settles into South Berwyn District 100

A Every administrative position I've had, the school or district has been in some type of distress — whether it was financial or academic — but District 100 doesn't need fixing. In South Berwyn, we're financially in good shape, and academically for the last few years, all of our schools have made annual yearly progress, the state's benchmarks for success.

They ignored the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" rule ?

What a difference 6 years make.  When Stan Fields came into the district it was all happiness and roses, now it is all doom and gloom.  I've looked at the numbers I can see from 2009 (the latest year available) to the present in terms of the ISAT scores and there is not much of a difference in minority, low income, or students with disabilities.  What happened?

[Ted]

Don't worry HB 3933 has been introduced that will allow the district to extend the allowable debt limit.

Thanks, Mustang84.  I didn't even know this had been introduced in the state legislature.  It was sponsored by Representative Elizabeth Hernandez.  As of 3/26, it was on the calendar and in its second reading. But, the language looks like the debt extension is dependent on the referendum passing and that the purpose was to allow a 30 year bond. Current law limits bonds to a maximum of 20 years:

http://ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=3933&GAID=12&GA=98&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=77846&SessionID=85

Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Amends the School Code. In provisions concerning the debt limitations of school districts, allows Berwyn South School District 100 to issue bonds with an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $51,500,000 if, among other conditions, the voters of the district approve a proposition for the bond issuance at an election held on or after March 18, 2014 and the school board determines that the improvement of the sites of, the building and equipping of additions to, and the altering, repairing, and equipping of existing buildings is required as a result of the size, age, and condition of existing school buildings. Provides that the debt incurred on the bonds and on any bonds issued to refund or continue to refund such bonds shall not be considered indebtedness for purposes of any statutory debt limitation and that the bonds and any bonds issued to refund or continue to refund such bonds must mature within not to exceed 30 years from their date. Effective immediately