Inflation played a role as Maine Township High School District 207 prepared and passed its 2024-25 budget. The district raised its levy to the maximum level permitted by Illinois law, 5%.
The Board of Education approved the budget of $200 million, which is $12.6 million higher than the previous year, at its Aug. 5 board meeting. The board received an update Aug. 19 that revised those numbers slightly.
While the increased cost will be passed on to property taxpayers, a school official pointed out that inflation also raises expenses for school districts.
For example, medical insurance costs for the district’s approximately 1,100 employees went up 18.5%, said Mary Kalou, assistant superintendent for business.
Illinois’s Property Tax Extension Limitation Law caps permits taxing bodies such as school districts from raising their levy more than 5% or rate of the consumer price index, and usually the consumer price index is well below 5%. Inflation in the past couple of years has boosted it to the maximum, however.
“We saw two back to back 5% (consumer price index raises), which is probably unknown in the the history of (consumer price index) in the last 40 years,” Mary Kalou, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, said when the budget was presented to the board for the first time in July.
Per district documents, property taxes are the district’s largest source of revenue, compromising 78% of the district’s revenue.
The district positioned itself to receive an increase of $12.6 million in property tax revenue when it raised its tax levy in December 2023. When the district raised its levy, it also allowed it to earn property tax revenue from new developments from 2023.
The district also saw a $17.3 million decrease in construction spending related to the 2019 referendum, when voters approved spending $195 million on renovations to the district’s high schools.
The district budgeted over $5 million in COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government through the CARES Act for the 2023-2024 school year, according to district documents.
“We used about 50% of (the relief money) on HVAC equipment to improve the indoor air quality during construction,” Kalou said, adding that most of the funds were spent on one-time items.
This year’s spending plan allows for about a 3% increase in staff salaries. The district hired 12 teachers, nine of whom will focus on the district’s multilingual program. The cost to hire those teachers were offset by 13 teachers retiring and seven turnovers. Twenty teacher assistants were added.
The following projects were also approved for capital projects at Maine East High School, Maine South High School and Maine West High School.
- Replacing the auditorium entrance for Maine East and Maine South.
- Brickwork at Maine East and Maine West.
- Replacing the spectator gym entrance at Maine South and Maine West.
- Terrazzo repairs at Maine South.
- UV filter on pool at Maine South.
- Replacing ejector pump at Maine West.
- Replacing storm sewers C-wing at Maine West.
- Parking lot seal coating, digital radios and concrete at all schools.
