FOREST LEAVES Ñ July 20, 2005
BY CHRIS LAFORTUNE
STAFF WRITER
River Forest District 90 has begun discussing how it plans to spend about $15.3 million to operate next school year.
School trustees discussed Monday a tentative operating budget for the 2005-06 school year. The discussion focused on the elementary district's education, operations and maintenance and transportation funds.
The $15.3 million in costs are about $600,000 more than was budgeted in those areas last year, mostly due to salary and supply cost increases.
There are some changes in the tentative budget compared to last year, though the program is essentially the same, Business Manager Anthony Cozzi said.
The district's bilingual education program has been growing, Cozzi said Monday, so its costs are now broken out in the budget.
The district now has a full-time limited English proficiency instructor serving about 10 students, Superintendent Marlene Kamm told trustees Monday. The district has applied for two federal grants that would pay for new materials in the program, but has not yet heard if it will receive them.
Kamm said she expected to hear back on the grants before the start of the school year.
Cozzi said the new budget also includes $34,700 in new money to pay for the technology plan the board passed in the spring.
The tentative spending plan predicts the district will collect $14.6 million in operating revenue, about $2.1 million of that in transfers from the district's $7 million working cash fund. The draft's $700,000 gap between spending and revenue would be covered by the district's fund balances.
The tentative budget will go on public display for review starting Aug. 19. The public will have 30 days to look over the budget and can come to a public hearing Sept. 19 to offer comment on it.
The hearing begins at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the learning center at Roosevelt Middle School, 7560 Oak Ave. The budget will be available to the public at the district's administrative headquarters, 7776 W. Lake St.
Still to be calculated in the budget is bond and interest costs and revenues. Those numbers are set by the county, and have not been worked out yet, Cozzi said.
The expenditures and revenue should not be much different from last year's figure of $1.2 million, Cozzi said.
Also not added in Monday's budget discussion is the district's contribution to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, projected at $412,000 for next school year.
The district's retirement contributions have climbed in recent years, Cozzi said, and are outstripping revenue. Revenue expected for the fund in the coming year is $169,000, leaving the district to cover the remaining $214,000 with a transfer of interest from its transportation fund.
The district's retirement obligation is calculated by the state, Cozzi said, and is based on factors including the ages of district staff covered by the pension fund.
Chris LaFortune can be reached at clafortune@pioneerlocal.com.
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