The District 54 School Board approved a resolution estimating its 2012 tax levy at $158,813,264, exclusive of debt service. The requested 2012 levy is 1.97 percent higher than the 2011 final extended levy of $155,737,584.

The tax rate is subject to the tax cap legislation. The most District 54 can receive from existing property owners is 3 percent more than last year’s levy; however, the increase may be less. School districts also receive additional property taxes from new construction. Last year’s growth in new construction was 0.21 percent of the prior year EAV in District 54. However, property owners may notice a greater increase on their property tax bills, based on the Cook County assessment process.

In addition to the tax levy for programs and services, the District 54 aggregate levy usually would include an amount necessary to retire a portion of the principal and interest on our bonds. The School Board has elected to forgo the issuance of bonds to pay for upcoming capital needs, instead using accumulated reserves to pay for those projected costs. The Bond & Interest levy was $9,409,050 in the 2010 levy, $0 in the 2011 levy and will be $0 again in the 2012 levy.

A public hearing will be held on the estimated levy at 7 p.m., Nov. 15, 2012, in the boardroom at the District Office at 524 E. Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg. For more information, please call Ric King, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, at (847) 357-5011.

The District 54 School Board adopted the 2012-13 budget at its August 16, 2012, meeting.

District 54 expects to spend $220,597,716 during the 2012-13 budget year and receive $213,523,089 in revenues. The District 54 operating funds – defined as the education, operations and maintenance, transportation and working cash funds – have projected revenues of $200,517,951 and expenditures of $199,702,786. District 54 developed the 2012-13 budget based on
the following parameters:

• There will continue to be a freeze on overall cumulative spending in supplies, purchased services and capital outlay. The only exception is in the Operations and Maintenance and Construction funds, where the cost of services, such as electricity, can’t be controlled.
• District 54 will issue no new debt and is debt free as of Dec. 1, 2011.
• Interest income has declined because of the past federal rate decreases. District 54 projects interest factors of less than 2 percent.
• Property taxes are based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 1.5 percent in 2011 and 3.0 percent in 2012.
• Benefit costs are projected to increase by about 5 percent annually. 

Federal aid is estimated to show minor increases.

State aid is expected to remain flat. District 54 does not know how much revenue it will receive from the state for the current year or for any projected year because of the funding deficiencies
facing the state.

District 54 receives less than 20 percent of its revenue from state and federal sources, compared to the “average Illinois school district,” which receives almost 38 percent of its revenue from state
sources and about 9.3 percent from federal sources.

Individual Fund Summary

The above numbers include a transfer of $5,750,000 from the Bond and Interest Fund to the Capital Projects Fund to pay for capital expenditures.

Click here to view the District 54 2012-13 Detailed Budget.

School District 54 is looking for community members who would be interested in serving on the Budget Review Committee that will be reviewing the 2013-14 budget. The committee will begin meeting in January 2013, so that the administration can present a tentative budget to the School Board before the 2013-14 school year begins.

The Budget Review Committee, consisting of board members, staff and community members, meets for the purpose of obtaining input on the acquisition and allocation of resources.

Member Responsibilities

1. Attend up to six meetings from 5:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. on Thursdays (January-June).
2. Participate in discussions on school finance.

To obtain an application for the Budget Review Committee, please visit our website at http://sd54.org/committees. If you have the need to speak to someone, please contact Ric King, assistant superintendent of business services, at (847) 357-5039 or RicKing@sd54.org.

Applications are due in the District Office, 524 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg, IL  60194, by Sept. 14, 2012.

The District 54 School Board released a tentative version of its 2012-13 budget at its June 21, 2012, meeting. District 54 expects to spend $220,758,801 during the 2012-13 budget year and receive $213,192,727 in revenues.

District 54 developed the 2012-13 budget based on the following parameters:

• There will continue to be a freeze on overall cumulative spending in supplies, purchased services and capital outlay. The only exception is in the Operations and Maintenance and Construction funds, where the cost of services, such as electricity, can’t be controlled.
• District 54 will issue no new debt and is debt free as of Dec. 1, 2011.
• Interest income has declined because of the past federal rate decreases. District 54 projects interest factors of less than 2 percent.
• Federal aid is estimated to show minor increases.
• State aid is expected to remain flat. District 54 does not know how much revenue it will receive from the state for the current year or for any projected year because of the funding deficiencies facing the state.
• Property taxes are based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 1.5 percent in 2011 and 3.0 percent in 2012.
• Benefit costs are projected to increase by about 5 percent annually.

To enable the district to maintain the property tax levels projected within a tax cap environment, restricted levies will not match expenditures in some of the district’s funds, causing accumulated fund balances in those funds to decline.

District 54 receives less than 20 percent of its revenue from state and federal sources, compared to the “average Illinois school district,” which receives almost 38 percent of its revenue from state
sources and about 9.3 percent from federal sources.

The tentative budget will be available at the District Office through August 16. On August 16, a public hearing on the budget will be held at 7 p.m. in the boardroom of the District Office, 524 E. Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg (prior to the School Board meeting that evening). The School Board is expected to adopt a budget at its August 16, 2012 meeting.

Individual Fund Summary

School District 54 is looking for community members who would be interested in serving on the Budget Review Committee that will be reviewing the 2012-13 budget. The committee will begin meeting in January 2012, so that the administration can present a tentative budget to the School Board before the 2012-13 school year begins.

The Budget Review Committee, consisting of board members, staff and community members, meets for the purpose of obtaining input on the acquisition and allocation of resources.

Member Responsibilities

1. Attend up to six meetings from 5:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. on Thursdays (January-June).
2. Participate in discussions on school finance.

To obtain an application for the Budget Review Committee, please visit our website, at http://sd54.org/committees.  If you have the need to speak to someone, please contact Ric King, assistant superintendent of business services, at (847) 357-5039 or RicKing@sd54.org.

Applications are due in the District Office, 524 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg, IL  60194, by Dec. 2, 2011.

When the General Assembly continues the veto session on Nov. 8, one of the bills under consideration will be House Bill 3793, which will have a far-reaching, negative impact on District 54, all school districts and all other taxing districts in Illinois. We urge all state representatives to VOTE NO for HB 3793.

The bill requires that if the equalized assessed valuation declines in communities with tax caps, such as District 54′s community, the allowable increase in a taxing body’s levy would be 0 percent (or a higher rate if approved by voters).

District 54 opposes this bill for the following reasons:

• District 54 would lose about $2.3 million in tax revenue this year if this bill passes.
• Each tax levy is based on the previous year’s levy as a percent increase. Therefore, a reduction for one year is permanent, continuous and compounding.
• The tax cap already effectively limits a school district’s ability to increase its tax levy to 5 percent or the CPI (whichever is lower). For the 2011 tax year, the CPI is just 1.5 percent.
• District 54 has already experienced reduced revenue through cuts in transportation (a $1.4 million loss this year), special education (a $800,000 loss) and cash flow due to the state of Illinois making late payments.
• The bill eliminates a school board’s authority to levy based on the needs of its community. School board members are elected to make these decisions. The bill is a further erosion of local control.

District 54 examines our revenues and expenditures each year in an effort to live within our means, while at the same time providing a quality education and safe learning environment for our more than 14,000 students.

With taxing bodies limited to a 1.5 percent increase, the larger increase in property owner tax bills are due to other factors, such as property tax appeals and reassessments.

Support local education. Call your local legislator and tell them to VOTE NO for HB 3793. The bill was introduced by state Rep. Jack Franks, but it is co-sponsored by local Representatives Fred Crespo and Michelle Mussman.

To read the Illinois PTA Action Alert opposing HB3793, click here.

To read the letter sent by the District 54 School Board to local legislators, click here.

To find your state representative’s contact information, click here.

To read the full text of HB3793, click here.

The District 54 School Board approved a resolution estimating its 2011 tax levy at $154,939,769, exclusive of debt service. The requested 2011 levy is 1.2 percent higher than the 2010 extended levy of $153,105,818, exclusive of debt service.

The tax rate is subject to the tax cap legislation. The most District 54 can receive from existing property owners is 1.5 percent more than last year’s levy; however, the increase may be less. School districts also receive additional property taxes from new construction. Last year’s growth in new construction was 0.28 percent of the prior year EAV in District 54. However, property owners may notice a greater increase on their property tax bills, based on the Cook County assessment process.

In addition to the tax levy for programs and services, the District 54 aggregate levy usually would include an amount necessary to retire a portion of the principal and interest on our bonds. The School Board has elected to forgo the issuance of bonds to pay for upcoming capital needs, instead using accumulated reserves to pay for those projected costs. The Bond & Interest levy will be $0 in the 2011 levy.

The overall levy of $154,939,769 can be compared to the 2010 levy extension of $162,514,868, including debt service. This results in an overall tax decrease of 4.66 percent.

A public hearing will be held on the estimated levy at 7 p.m., Dec. 1, 2011, in the boardroom at the District Office at 524 E. Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg. For more information, please call Ric King, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, at (847) 357-5011.

The District 54 School Board approved its 2011-12 budget at its August 11, 2011, meeting.

District 54 expects to spend $217,979,108 during the 2011-12 budget year and receive $209,334,501 in revenues. The District 54 operating funds – defined as the education, operations and maintenance, transportation and working cash funds – have projected revenues of $192,993,451 and expenditures of $192,860,993.

Rather than issuing new debt to cover current capital expenses, the District 54 School Board has elected to use operating revenue and accumulated reserves to fund capital expenses. District 54 has sufficient reserves to cover the projected differences in the 2011-12 budget. District 54 will be debt free after making its Dec. 1, 2011, bond payment

District 54 developed the 2011-12 budget based on the following parameters:

• There will continue to be a freeze on overall cumulative spending in supplies, purchased services and capital outlay. The only exception is in the Operations and Maintenance and Capital funds, where cost-of-service increases can’t be controlled.
• Interest income has declined. District 54 projects interest factors of less than 2 percent.
• Federal aid is estimated to show minor increases.
• State aid is expected to remain flat.
• Property tax levies use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the previous calendar year. The 2010 CPI was 2.7 percent. It is estimated to be 1.5 percent in 2011.
• Benefit costs are projected to increase by about 5 percent annually, with the biggest increase in HMO medical costs, which are projected at a 7.5 percent increase.

District 54 receives less than 21.6 percent of its revenue from state and federal sources, compared to the “average Illinois school district,” which receives almost 38 percent of its revenue from state sources and about 9.3 percent from federal sources.

To view the detailed 2011-12 budget, visit the new District 54 BoardDocs website.

School District 54 is looking for community members who would be interested in serving on the Budget Review Committee that will be reviewing the 2011-2012 budget. The committee will begin meeting in January 2011, so that the administration can present a tentative budget to the School Board before the 2011-12 school year begins.

The Budget Review Committee, consisting of board members, staff and community members, meets for the purpose of obtaining input on the acquisition and allocation of resources.

Member Responsibilities

1. Attend up to six meetings from 5:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. on Thursdays (January-June).
2. Participate in discussions on school finance.

To apply download the Budget Review Committee Application and return it to the District Office (524 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg, IL 60194) by Sept. 15, 2010. If you have the need to speak to someone, please contact Mohsin Dada, assistant superintendent of business services, at (847) 357-5011 or MohsinDada@sd54.org.

The District 54 School Board released a tentative version of its 2010-11 budget at its July 8, 2010, meeting.

District 54 expects to spend $238,078,823 during the 2010-11 budget year and receive $229,572,321 in revenues.

District 54 developed the 2010-11 budget based on the following parameters:

• There will continue to be a freeze on overall cumulative spending in supplies, purchased services and capital outlay. The only exception is in the Operations and Maintenance and Construction funds, where the cost of services, such as electricity, can’t be controlled.
• District 54 will issue no new debt and be debt free in fiscal year 2012.
• Interest income has declined. District 54 projects interest factors of less than 3 percent.
• Federal aid is estimated to drop back to 2009 levels in 2011 because the ARRA money is currently set to sunset.
• State aid is expected to remain flat. District 54 does not know how much revenue it will receive from the state for the current year or for any projected year because of the funding deficiencies facing the state.
• Property tax levies use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the previous calendar year. The actual CPI in calendar year 2009 was 2.7 percent, but it is estimated to be 2.2 percent in 2010-11.
• Benefit costs are projected to increase by about 5 percent annually, with the biggest increase in HMO medical costs, which are projected at a 7.5 percent increase.

District 54 receives less than 20 percent of its revenue from state and federal sources, compared to the “average Illinois school district,” which receives almost 38 percent of its revenue from state sources and about 9.3 percent from federal sources.

The tentative budget will be available at the District Office through Sept. 16. On Sept. 16, a public hearing on the budget will be held at 7 p.m. in the boardroom of the District Office,
524 E. Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg (prior to the School Board meeting that evening). The School Board is expected to adopt a budget at its Sept. 16, 2010 meeting.

Individual Fund Summary