Lincoln-Way SD 210 passes balanced budget
BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY slafferty@southtownstar.com September 20, 2012 4:18PM
Updated: October 22, 2012 6:07AM
Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 last week approved a balanced budget for the 2012-13 school year, with revenue of $97.1 million matching expenses, Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie said.
The budget includes $70 million in property tax revenue, about a 2 percent increase, Wyllie said.
The property tax rate rose from 1.7045 to 1.8306 to make up for the drop in the total value of property throughout the district and to cover the repayment of $225 million in bonds that voters approved in 2005 to build Lincoln-Way North and Lincoln-Way West high schools, he said.
The total equalized assessed valuation of properties in the district fell about $170 million to $3.8 billion, and while there is $36 million in new construction projected districtwide this year, that’s a far cry from the boom years when there was $200 million in new construction on the tax rolls, Wyllie said.
About 20 teachers were cut this year, but enrollment is up by 90 students, Wyllie said.
“We can never cut fast enough to keep up,” he said.
Wyllie said the economy and the state being behind on payments — $1.5 million in the district’s case — have put school districts and municipal governments “in a bind.”
“We are working our way through it as all families in Illinois are doing,” Wyllie said.
