By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Niles Community Schools superintendent Doug Law presented the plans for the 2004-2005 budget, a deficit budget which will require taking $800,000 from its fund equity, to the board at its annual budget hearing last night.
With this new hit, the fund equity will be at five percent of the district's expenses, or $1.9 million. Law indicated that the state average for fund equities, which are used for budget shortfalls and other financial emergencies, is at 14 percent of expenses.
The new budget did make $375,000 in cuts and savings and Law told the board they plan to look for more savings so they do not take so much from the fund equity.
Law said the board advised administration to "develop a budget that kept the instructional programs intact" and he said that is what they had done with this budget.
The board will not take action on the budget until its next meeting in two weeks.
The expected revenues for the 2004-2005 budget remain relatively flat at $32,356,100 up slightly from last year's $32,324,285.
Despite the savings of $375,000, the 2004-2005 expenditures are up to $33,165,960 from last year's 32,542,556.
Law said expenditures were up almost entirely because of a 15 percent increase in health insurance costs and a 14.87 percent increase in state retirement costs.
The district was able to save the $375,000 by making moves such as revamping the driver's education program, eliminating a bus mechanic position, looking for more efficiencies in bus routes and transferring roofing projects from the general fund to the building and site improvement fund.
This budget assumes that voters will approve the Headlee override on the June 14 school board ballot and that the state will not make further budget cuts.
The Headlee Amendment, which is worth about $200,000 to the district, says if property tax rates increase more rapidly than inflation rates, the school district must have voters approve the amendment at a special election or else they can not collect the full 18-mill levy.
Law said this tax "does not cost homeowners a cent," because it is only applied to commercial property and owners of a second property.
Law went on to announce that the district will be debt free at the end of the calendar year as it finishes paying off the debt retirement fund from a 1990 bond issue.
He also announced that the district's privatization of its food service has gone better than expected.
He said the district is seriously concerned with its day care program, which will be operating in its third consecutive year as a deficit budget. Because the program continues to lose money, the district will no longer offer before and after school day care services.
Law said parents have been notified and they are in discussions with the Niles-Buchanan YMCA, which may begin to offer the before and after school day care services.
In other business, the board approved a bid from Thermal Tech Inc. for $27,540 to transport two portable classrooms from Ring Lardner to Cedar Lane.
The classrooms are no longer needed at Ring Lardner because of the large class of eighth graders that just passed through the school and it will allow Cedar Lane to expand its program from 60 to 80 students.