The Examiner U-46 News FeedU-46 budget hiked again as enrollment declines By Seth Hancock
School District U-46 plans to increase spending by $61.3 million while seeking maximum taxation as the trend continues in Fiscal Year 2022 of budget increases while enrollment continues to decline.
The budget shows revenues increasing 9.9 percent, or $59.9 million, from $602.4 million to $662.3 million and expenditures rising 10.2 percent, or $61.3 million, from $599.5 million to $660.8 million. The district projects a loss of 451 total students for a total enrollment on 36,049 with 64 percent of capacity in use.
This will be the seventh straight year of spending increases and enrollment declines.
The budget was presented to the Board of Education at its Monday, Aug. 23 meeting. A public hearing is planned for Sept. 23 with a vote expected on Sept. 27.
The district expects to keep hemorrhaging students at an average of 791 a year for the foreseeable future, eventually falling to an enrollment of 33,676 by 2024-2025. U-46 projected to lose 483 last year during the budget process but lost 1,391 when official numbers were reported in November.
Spending will have increased 53.7 percent and enrollment will have declined 11.4 percent under this budget from 2012 when there was $430 million in expenditures and 40,687 students.
Staffing is projected to remain flat, 4,898 full-time equivalent, but salaries and benefits are projected to rise 6.2 percent from $420 million to $446 million, a $26 million increase. That’s a 23.2 percent increase from FY2018 when salaries and benefits totaled $362 million.
Per usual, the district plans to seek the largest property tax increase allowed with a $5.5 million increase, $319.1 million to $324.6 million.
Dale Burnidge, director of financial operations, said that equalized assessed valuation (EAV), used in calculating property taxes, “has been increasing over the past four years” and claimed “as evaluations increase, the tax rates decline.”
Despite that, the direct tax rate has increased each year and is projected to again this year. U-46 projects EAV to rise from $303 million to $326 million while the annual direct tax rate has increased from 3 percent in 2017 to around 7.5 percent this year.
The district projects an increase in state funding of $15 million to $212.3 million and an increase of $39 million in federal funds to $83.4 million. The federal government is $28.7 trillion in debt and Illinois $171.1 billion in debt, according to usdebtclock.org.
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