At their July school board meetings, the school boards for both Riverside Elementary School District 96 and Brookfield LaGrange Park School District 95 adopted budgets for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
Riverside District 96 is projecting a balanced budget with revenues and expenditures both coming to just over $31.4 million. The district is forecasting a 1.25 percent increase in property tax revenues and a three percent increases in expenditures for wages, not including new positions such as the associate director of special education and student services. The district will have 6.89 more full time equivalent employees this year compared to last year which is mostly due to the implementation of full day kindergarten. Operating expenses are projected to increase six percent, mostly due to full day kindergarten.
“The projections are very realistic both on the expenses and on the revenue side,” said David Barsotti, the chairman of the school board’s finance committee.
The district plans to transfer $4 million from its capital projects fund. The district is projecting to have reserves of nearly $14.8 million at the end of the fiscal year.
“Our reserves are very healthy,” Barsotti said.
District 95 is projecting revenues of approximately $19.5 million and expenditures of about $20.2 million but most of the $755,000 difference is due to a drawdown of the capital projects fund to pay for roof work done this summer at S.E. Gross Middle School. The district is also planning to make a permanent transfer of $1 million from its working cash fund to its operations and maintenance fund. The district projects a $159,695 surplus in its educational fund.
