On November 29, 2011, an audit conducted by Clifton-Gunderson put District 150's Education Fund $2.4 million dollars in the positive. Fast forward nine months to August 2012:
This school year, in spite of receiving millions of dollars in restructuring grants for both Manual (in 2010, $6 million over three years) and Peoria High School (in 2011, $6 million over three years), The District's 2012-13 tentative budget is said to show a $4 million deficit, which is double last year's deficit. The District received $4 million in grants, this year alone for Manual and Peoria High.
This school year, in spite of receiving millions of dollars in restructuring grants for both Manual (in 2010, $6 million over three years) and Peoria High School (in 2011, $6 million over three years), The District's 2012-13 tentative budget is said to show a $4 million deficit, which is double last year's deficit. The District received $4 million in grants, this year alone for Manual and Peoria High.
As the The District has reduced expenses by closing buildings and shrinking its work force, revenues also have steadily declined, said The District 150 Treasurer, Dave Kinney.
Though a number of programs were spared from cuts in the 2012-13 budget, Kinney could not say what might happen if state aid and property tax revenues continue to slide.
"I don't want to predict what we might look at going forward," he said, "but we have to look at something."
The $174 million spending plan represents an approximate 8 percent, or $3 million, cut to expenditures, excluding the capital projects fund.
Drops in state replacement taxes cost the district $1 million in revenues, and declines in property tax revenues, The District's largest income source, mean another $700,000 loss.Kinney pointed out equal assessed valuations dropped last year also, which adds up to about $2 million in lost revenues over the past two years. The District expects $66.6 million in revenues from property taxes.