Revenue assumptions for Galesburg District 205 are looking quite a bit different for fiscal year 2024.
Overall projections are $67 million in revenue and $64 in expenditures.
But Assistant Superintendent of Finance Jennifer Hamm told the school board during a budget presentation there are a lot of changes this year on the revenue side.
“This is kind of a different year for us in terms of really having a lot of deficits and a lot of changes to both our state and federal funding models,” she said.
Per the Illinois State Board of Education’s evidence-based funding model, the school district moved from Tier 1 to Tier 2 for fiscal year 2024.
That means the district moved up in the rankings for meeting the state’s adequacy targets, which calculate how much funding districts need to adequately educate students.
In this case, the district moved into the second tier by 0.2 points.
Hamm said that translates to around $1 million in lost funding for the district.
Another issue is the state previously overpaying districts their share Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax funds.
“The formula was incorrect and so now they’re rolling back that formula and we’re seeing in essence a 28% decrease in our CPPRT funding for 2024,” Hamm said.
That’s a cut of around $1.5 million.
In addition, state pre-K funding hasn’t increased in two years, federal grants are being reduced by around $300,000, and this is the last year for federal ESSER pandemic relief funds.
Expenditure assumptions show increases in salaries, debt service, and contingencies but large decreases in capital outlays and purchased services as the district’s construction projects have been completed.
Hamm said the district may apply for some grants that could change the budget before it is approved in September.
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