GA_092718

8 | September 27, 2018 | The glencoe anchor news
glencoeanchor.com
New Trier District 203 School Board
‘Stringent process’ leads to FY19 budget approval
Todd Marver
Freelance Reporter
New Trier is required to
adopt a budget by Sept. 30
each year and the School
Board fulfilled its obligation
by approving the
fiscal year 2019 budget
at its Monday, Sept. 17
meeting with a surplus of
$780,961. This includes
$110,690,290 in revenues,
$106,704,382 in expenditures
and $3,204,947
in transfers to other
funds.
Assistant Superintendent
for Finance and Operations
Chris Johnson
presented the budget at the
meeting. Property taxes
comprise 91 percent of the
revenue and Johnson said
state revenue is up slightly
and categorized using the
new evidence based funding
methodology and federal
revenue is up 1 percent.
As far as expenditures,
salaries are the largest
component of the budget
at 65 percent, while employee
benefits total 12
percent of the budget. Together,
salaries and benefits
total 77 percent of
the budget and certified
staff increased by 1.45
percent.
“I would say that 77
percent of our dollars are
on salaries and benefits,
so that’s where a lot of
the costs are generated in
terms of how we spend,”
board member Carol Ducommun
said. “Some of
the security changes that
we’ve made we’ve had to
add part-time people on a
number of shifts.”
Employee benefits include
health insurance,
403b contributions, payroll
taxes and district contributions
to employee retirement
systems.
The largest component
of benefits is health insurance
and the district is a
member of the Northern
Illinois Health Insurance
Program Cooperative.
Health and dental costs
decreased 0.7 percent for
this fiscal year, continuing
a trend of historically low
renewal rates according to
Johnson, at an average of
0.96 percent for the past
five years.
The district’s Illinois
Municipal Retirement
VENDORS WANTED
Fund rate will decrease
from 7.99 percent to 5.96
percent due to strong investment
returns and the
District’s IMRF Unfunded
Actuarial Accrued Liability
pay down in 2016, according
to Johnson.
Purchased services,
which includes professional
development, printing,
postage, legal and other
services, is projected to increase
0.39 percent.
Supplies and materials,
which includes utilities,
office and instructional
supplies and vehicle supplies,
is expected to rise
5.24 percent in part to fund
installation of energy efficient
light bulbs on both
campuses, according to
Johnson.
Capital outlay, which
includes the purchase of
equipment and construction,
is expected to decrease
slightly in operating
funds, and special
education tuition, room
and board will increase by
1 percent.
Board member Patrick
O’Donoghue feels
it’s important for the
district to be fiscally responsible
with taxpayer
money.
“I want everyone here in
this organization to spend
the taxpayers money as if
it was their own,” he said.
“Just because something
is budgeted doesn’t mean
that it needs to max out to
that level.”
Ducommun responded
that the district is being fiscally
responsible with taxpayer
money, while also
fulfilling the needs of New
Trier students.
“We’re very conscious
in making this work for
our taxpayers and for
our students,” she added.
“That’s where the balance
comes in.”
Board member Keith
Dronen concurred with
Ducommun, saying that
the district works hard
to be fiscally responsible
with taxpayer money and
balancing that with student
necessities.
“Tremendous effort is
being made to alleviate the
burden on taxpayers, while
providing the best education
that we can for our
students, which is a priority,”
he said.
Board member Marc
Glucksman agreed
with his colleagues that
O’Donoghue’s concerns
are being met.
“I think the bottom
line is that this is a pretty
lean budget. Out of all the
boards I’ve been on, I’ve
never seen a more stringent
finance committee
than we’ve got. So I think
that your concerns are being
met,” Glucksman said
to O’Donoghue. “It’s a
very stringent process.”
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OCT. 13, 2018
10 AM - 2 PM
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Input sought on completed Biking and Walking Plan
Submitted by Village of
Glencoe
The Village of Glencoe,
the Sustainability Task
Force, District 35 and
the Glencoe Park District
have been working in partnership
with the Active
Transportation Alliance to
develop the Village’s first
community-wide Active
Transportation Plan, or
ATP.
Now nearing its final
form, the plan proposes
infrastructure improvements
as well as educational
programs to create
a network of safe transportation
options and
responsible cyclists and
pedestrians. The improvements
focus on guiding
cyclists and pedestrians
to popular and important
community destinations
in a way that accommodates
the needs of all ages
and ability levels.
The Glencoe community
is invited to learn about
the final recommendations
in the ATP at the final
community workshop
being held from 7-8:30
p.m. Oct. 10 in Young
Auditorium at Central
School. Attendees will get
to preview the recommendations
and discuss priorities
with Steering Committee
members and staff
from the Village, Park
District and District 35.
Beginning in October,
the final draft of the Glencoe
Active Transportation
Plan will also be presented
to the Village Board, District
35 Board and Park
District Board for discussion
and feedback at their
regularly scheduled meetings.
Interested residents
are encouraged to attend
these public meetings.
Later this fall, the Village
Board will formally consider
the adoption of the
ATP at a regularly scheduled
meeting.
For additional information,
visit the Village’s
website at www.villageofglencoe.org/ATP.