The fiscal year 2027 budget for Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208 is coming together, and while it won’t be approved by the board of education until September, it is being impacted by two TBDs: Receipt of state Evidence-Based Funds and Cook County property tax distribution.
For the moment, the district is anticipating a deficit of $223,913 for the next fiscal year based on tentative revenue and expenditures, according to a memo to the school board provided by assistant superintendent Dr. Kristin Smetana earlier this month. That is sure to change over the next few months, the memo said.
“The challenge with school districts is we don’t know how much Evidence-Based Funding until August,” Smetana said. “That’s the funding we get from the state of Illinois, and so for us, it’s kind of a guessing game until then. We try to adjust until the board approves the budget in September.”
According to the state board of education, Evidence-Based Funding sends more resources to the state’s most under-resourced students and helps ensure all districts have the resources to provide a challenging and well-rounded student learning environment.
Smetana said the district’s biggest source of revenue is property taxes, and on the expenditure side, her challenge is to align costs so they don’t increase more than the federal Consumer Price Index.
“The other thing with expenditures, a lot of families and consumers know that things are expensive,” she said. “Some of our largest expenses are transportation, which continues to increase. Ever since Covid, there has been a significant bus driver shortage. That continues to impact every district that has transportation in any shape or form.”
As it currently stands, the district is anticipating $35,431,441 in fiscal year 2027 revenue. As far as expenditures, it is anticipating $35,655,354, which is where the $233,913 deficit comes from.
Those expenditures include an anticipated $1,559,067 in transportation costs.
Smetana said to bear in mind the budget should be altered heading into August, which could wipe out that deficit.
“It depends on what happens with Evidence-Based Funding,” she said. “I have a placeholder in the budget for what I anticipate the funds are from the state. If we get more from the state, we may have a small surplus.”
Another challenge for Smetana is Cook County property tax distribution, which was delayed in fiscal year 2026. Tax bills that were supposed to be distributed in July 2025 were delayed to November due to a technology issue involving a software program from Tyler Technologies which was replacing a 1970s-era mainframe computer.
For fiscal year 2027, property tax distribution will be delayed at least two months, she said.
“My deficit for this year was $550,000, for this fiscal year that ends June 30,” she said. “In a normal year, we can finish with this deficit this June. But because of the property tax distribution, I can’t tell.
“The challenge this year is we’re chasing money in property tax. Are we receiving it this fiscal year or next fiscal year? Those fund balances could change.”
A bright spot for the district is the progress being made in its solar panel project, which is expected to garner about 16% of its power upon final completion in September. The district paid 20% of that project in fiscal year 2025 and 70% this fiscal year, with the final 10% in fiscal year 2027. That’s why solar panel expenditures are anticipated to drop 78.5% next fiscal year.
While there are changes yet to come, the district is in generally good financial shape, Smetana said.
“I would say the district is in a very healthy financial situation and we’re working toward a balanced budget for next year,” she said.