Post by title1parent on Sept 16, 2009 5:26:04 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1773004,2_1_AU16_WEST_S1-090916.article
House bill bailout
Penalty reversal eases financial pain in West Aurora school district
Comments
September 16, 2009
By ERIKA WURST ewurst@scn1.com
When it comes to the financial future of the West Aurora School District, one thing is certain: nothing is certain. For administrators, the next few years will be no cake walk, and sugar-coating the situation, they said, is no solution.
Since March, West administrators have been publicly addressing financial issues that have put the district, teachers and programs at risk. A school has closed, jobs were lost and budgets bounced around all summer, in anticipation of what local lawmakers have called West's untimely "double whammy."
When voters passed an operating rate referendum in 2007, agreeing to an increase in property taxes, administrators breathed a sign of relief. It was short-lived.
Property values were steadily decreasing, and the result was detrimental. The tax dollars West was slated to receive would be much less than administrators expected. Wham!
Funds collected would not even cover the state penalty placed on districts that approve a tax increase. In essence, the district lost money when the referendum passed. Double wham!
It was time to face the facts, and those facts were creating a financial storm for the district.
Millions of dollars were in jeopardy of being lost, along with more than 100 jobs. West Aurora administrators were in a bind, and it was one only the state could release them from.
Gov. Pat Quinn did just that when he signed House Bill 2051 this summer. The bill successfully eliminated state penalties placed on districts with passed referendum operating rates. It was the break administrators had been waiting for.
"If (the bill) hadn't passed, the situation would be too scary to talk about," first year financial director Christi Tyler lamented. "I can't even think about it."
District spokesman Mike Chapin said West would have had a "$10 million problem" without the bill, and it was one they were forced to address last spring.
More than 160 teachers were laid off in preparation for the bill's possible rejection. The district held off on purchases, limited refresh cycles and looked at every line in its complicated budget.
"There were a lot of sleepless nights," Tyler said.
And despite Quinn's signature, West -- like nearly every district across the Fox Valley -- wasn't out of hot water yet.
"We gutted our loins to prepare for the year we're in," Chapin said. "We are set for this year, but we will be very cautious about the future. We're being told it could get much worse. This year could be a cake walk compared to the next two (years)."
Administrators have maintained, however, that the key to the financial future is separating needs from wants, and learning to identify worst-case scenarios before they strike unexpectedly. Wanting to paint a school isn't the same as needing to fix a water leak, Chapin said.
Administrators are also in the process of reviewing employee benefits and exploring ways to save additional cash amid the country's financial plummet. Asking voters for more money, they noted, wasn't in the cards.
"We have to live within our means," Superintendent James Rydland said. "We have a multi-year, step-by-step plan to improve student learning and to also increase the safety and security of our schools. We're working on it. We will bite off what we can chew each year
House bill bailout
Penalty reversal eases financial pain in West Aurora school district
Comments
September 16, 2009
By ERIKA WURST ewurst@scn1.com
When it comes to the financial future of the West Aurora School District, one thing is certain: nothing is certain. For administrators, the next few years will be no cake walk, and sugar-coating the situation, they said, is no solution.
Since March, West administrators have been publicly addressing financial issues that have put the district, teachers and programs at risk. A school has closed, jobs were lost and budgets bounced around all summer, in anticipation of what local lawmakers have called West's untimely "double whammy."
When voters passed an operating rate referendum in 2007, agreeing to an increase in property taxes, administrators breathed a sign of relief. It was short-lived.
Property values were steadily decreasing, and the result was detrimental. The tax dollars West was slated to receive would be much less than administrators expected. Wham!
Funds collected would not even cover the state penalty placed on districts that approve a tax increase. In essence, the district lost money when the referendum passed. Double wham!
It was time to face the facts, and those facts were creating a financial storm for the district.
Millions of dollars were in jeopardy of being lost, along with more than 100 jobs. West Aurora administrators were in a bind, and it was one only the state could release them from.
Gov. Pat Quinn did just that when he signed House Bill 2051 this summer. The bill successfully eliminated state penalties placed on districts with passed referendum operating rates. It was the break administrators had been waiting for.
"If (the bill) hadn't passed, the situation would be too scary to talk about," first year financial director Christi Tyler lamented. "I can't even think about it."
District spokesman Mike Chapin said West would have had a "$10 million problem" without the bill, and it was one they were forced to address last spring.
More than 160 teachers were laid off in preparation for the bill's possible rejection. The district held off on purchases, limited refresh cycles and looked at every line in its complicated budget.
"There were a lot of sleepless nights," Tyler said.
And despite Quinn's signature, West -- like nearly every district across the Fox Valley -- wasn't out of hot water yet.
"We gutted our loins to prepare for the year we're in," Chapin said. "We are set for this year, but we will be very cautious about the future. We're being told it could get much worse. This year could be a cake walk compared to the next two (years)."
Administrators have maintained, however, that the key to the financial future is separating needs from wants, and learning to identify worst-case scenarios before they strike unexpectedly. Wanting to paint a school isn't the same as needing to fix a water leak, Chapin said.
Administrators are also in the process of reviewing employee benefits and exploring ways to save additional cash amid the country's financial plummet. Asking voters for more money, they noted, wasn't in the cards.
"We have to live within our means," Superintendent James Rydland said. "We have a multi-year, step-by-step plan to improve student learning and to also increase the safety and security of our schools. We're working on it. We will bite off what we can chew each year