Post by macrockett on Oct 7, 2010 19:32:56 GMT -6
This is a week late.
ipsdweb.ipsd.org/Documents/1011/FinalFY11StateBudget.pdf
Indian Prairie District 204 approves $269.5 million budget
By jackmccarthy Special to the Tribune Sep. 29 at 10:35 a.m.
A $269.5 million budget for fiscal year 2011 featuring a $9 million surplus was unanimously approved by the Indian Prairie District 204 board this week.
But it’s still not the final fiscal plan.
Receipt of an additional $1.9 million in federal funds this month will require the district to submit an amended budget at a later date, along with official notices and public hearings plus another board vote.
The budget, which has $227 million in operating expenditures, reflects $21.4 million in cuts made earlier and a $7 million decline in federal stimulus aid. The $9 million surplus is the result of promised higher level of state support in a budget signed over the summer by Gov. Pat Quinn.
“This excess assumes the state is going to make every payment that’s in the state budget,” said Dave Holm, District 204 assistant superintendent for business. “We’re not spending it. We are assuming we will not get that money and are spending $9 million less.”
The district is also still due $6.3 million in state funds for fiscal year 2010 and expects delays in state payments to continue indefinitely.
“Overall, the district performed better (in 2010) than what we budgeted for, with one exception,” Holm said. “That $4.3 million deficit actually would have been a $1.6 million excess (surplus) had we received those funds.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
naperville.patch.com/articles/district-204-passes-2695-million-budget-saves-energy-and-dollars
District 204 passes $269.5Million Budget; Saves Energy and Dollars
Indian Prairie School District No 204
780 Shoreline Dr, Aurora, IL
Officials approved the 2010-11 budget while learning it has saved more than $500,000 in the first nine months of an energy management program.
By Mary Ann Lopez | Email the author | September 27, 2010
Money. That was the main topic of discussion Monday night as the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education passed its $269.5 million 2010-11 budget and learned that it recouped $500,000 in the first nine months of an energy management program.
Officials were pleased both with the budget and with the energy program, which came out of the district's need to trim $21.4 million in order to balance last year's budget.
When District 204 implemented its Energy Management Program earlier this year, the district hoped to see some positive results by the end of this year. Only nine months into the program, the district has experienced savings greater than the program's cost.
To date, changes made throughout the district's 35 schools have saved it roughly $506,010 in energy savings, according to Aramark officials. The cost to implement the program was about $400,000, so the savings have outweighed the cost. As the five-year program continues, the savings will continue to grow with the expectation that the district will save more than $1 million over the five years, according to officials.
To close a $21.4 million budget gap, the district took on a number of cost saving measures. To find cost savings the district allowed its vendor Aramark to do an energy audit to determine where the district could make changes that would have the biggest impact with the least cost.
Michael Paparella, energy manager, technical services with Aramark said that a baseline of energy use was established based on usage from Nov. 2008-July 2009. Then, the Aramark team began to look at ways to reduce consumption through a review of the buildings' systems.
"We really concentrated on the mechanical systems with minimal adjustments that made the differences," he said.
Retrofitting lighting in gymnasiums in seven schools will yield over $10,000 in energy saving per year, he said. The district received $25,000 in grant funding to implement the changes. The hope is that in the future lighting retrofits will be undertaken in five elementary schools and another 14 school gyms, mostly in Naperville.
Paparella said as the program continues, the goal is to work with the district IT team to implement remote access to the schools to streamline the monitoring process.
"Energy system optimizing is about constant monitoring," he said.
In the first nine months of the program energy consumption was cut by more than 15 percent, which was double the initial expectation, Paparella said.
To put it into perspective the environmental impact equals powering 408 homes, planting 717 acres of trees and taking 643 cars off the street, according to Aramark documents.
"I am so happy about this, about saving money and lowering our carbon footprint," said Board Member Dawn DeSart.
Board President Curt Bradshaw agreed: "Every dollar you can save in energy is a dollar we can put back into our district."
While the board was pleased with the savings of the energy program, it was also pleased that for right now it appears to have a budget that is balanced, though it was not implemented without difficulty.
The board approved the $269.5 million budget unanimously.
Board members noted that it was a long and arduous process.
The district has 100 fewer certified teachers and 50 fewer teacher assistants, said Board member Cathy Piehl, adding that there are larger class sizes with a smaller staff.
"This budget has been a mess, but we've made it work," she said.
Alka Tyle, board vice president, also acknowledged the difficulty that has been faced.
"The sacrifices people are making will continue in the coming year and I truly appreciate everyone trying to make it work."
Dave Holm, assistant superintendent, business and finance, presented the budget to the board. The budget reflected the $21.4 million in reductions that had already been undertaken.
Holm explained that the district will maintain a fund balance of at least 25 percent, and it is currently has a fund balance of $82.6 million, revenues of $281 million, or a ratio of 29.4 percent.
One issue that continues to vex districts across the state is state funding. Holm said the district is still waiting for a third quarter payment of $6 million from the state for special education programs. Though, he said, fourth quarter payments were made.
The district is acting conservatively with its planning, because its unknown how timely the state will make payments in the future. The budget assumes the $6 million owed is coming, Holm said, but it also assumes the in the future the state might be behind with payments by as much as two quarters.
"As I'm almost too tired to say, we continue to monitor things in the state," Holm said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
foxvalleysun.suntimes.com/news/schools/1783364-418/budget-district-holm-board-million.html?print=true
By Kathy Cichon
kcichon@stmedianetwork.com
Last Modified: Oct 1, 2010 06:07PM
After months of hard work, and, at times, emotional debate, board members in Indian Prairie District 204 unanimously approved the 2011 budget.
“Approving the budget is certainly a bittersweet experience. It’s nice to put it behind us, but I think the last few months have probably been the most difficult for a lot of people,” board Vice President Alka Tyle said Monday night. “Everyone has made sacrifices, but really that process has just begun. We’re approving the budget, but the sacrifices that people are making are just beginning, and it’s going to continue all through the coming year. And I sincerely appreciate the willingness of the people to share and spread the pain, and try to do more with less, so thank you very, very much.”
The board approved a $269.5 million operating budget. Salaries make up the largest expense at $181.49 million. All six funds have positive fund balances, showing a total of $9 million in surplus funds. But that assumes the state is going to make every payment, Holm said
“We’re not assuming that,” Assistant Superintendent for Business Dave Holm said. “It’s included in the budget presentation, but we’re not spending it. We are assuming we will not get that money and spending $9 million less.”
Several board members praised staff for what board member Dawn DeSart said involved “cutting deep and painfully at times and making it work to balance our budget.”
The budget does include the $21.4 million in reductions the board has discussed during the past several months, Holm said.
The district already had trimmed $9.2 million from the budget when state funding projections indicated another $12.2 million would need to be cut. The cuts were made through layoffs, increased class sizes, fee increases and reductions in program expenditures.
“This budget is equaling 100 less certified teachers for us this year and 50 less classified assistants,” board member Cathy Piehl said. “I think it’s important to point out, we’ve got a balanced budget, we got a great fund balance, we’re going to be recognized, but our staff are working with less people and our students are having larger class sizes.”
As part of the austerity process, the district laid off 150 teachers this year. Of those, 139 were eligible for recall. The district was able to rehire 92, Piehl said. Some teachers were eligible but had already found work in another district, she said.
Those who were rehired filled positions that were created when someone retired, moved or left the district.
“I think people had the perception that we simply put them back in the job they had before, when in fact in the overwhelming majority of cases, they were put into other positions,” board member Mark Metzger said. “Those positions were and still are eliminated.”
On Aug. 10 the Education, Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act was signed into law. District 204 will receive $1,936,194 in funds from the act, funds that will be used to pay for the 20.5 full-time equivalent elementary teachers, 2.1 FTE middle school teachers, 6.6 FTE high school teachers and 21.6 reading aides. The money will be reimbursed to the district on a monthly basis.
“Neither the revenue side of this or the expenditure side of this has been included in the budget presented to you tonight,” Holm told the board. “The decision was made to bring that to you as an amended budget at a later date.” Holm said.
The district is still waiting for the third quarter payment from Springfield for special education and transportation aid for fiscal year 2010. Currently due from the state is $6.3 million
“We anticipate that we will receive these monies and have been promised that we will receive these monies before December,” Holm said.
Despite the challenges, the district is projected to maintain its Aa1 rating with Moody’s and earn “recognition” status from the state for financial health, Holm said. The district is also projected to meet its fund balance to revenue ratio target of at least 25 percent, as well as its goal of maintaining its bonding capacity of more then 50 percent.
“We continue to hold a solid financial position throughout everything that we’re facing, and a lot of it has to do with that we took it seriously, dealt with it and made the adjustments we needed to make,” Holm said.
Moving forward, the district will continue to implement austerity plans. A financial report will be completed in next couple of months and the first forecast for fiscal year 2012 will be presented this fall.
Holm said the district will continue to monitor the state and its financial situation. With elections held in November and the legislature returning in January, that could change the outlook.
“That will tell us a lot about 2012, quite honestly,” Holm said.
Comment at napersun.com
---------------------------------------------------------------
www.dailyherald.com/article/20100928/news/309289924/print/
Article updated: 9/27/2010 11:02 PM | published: 9/28/2010 06:00 AM
District 204 realizing early energy, cost savings
By Justin Kmitch
With the help of an energy-savings contractor, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 has reduced its energy consumption since November by nearly 16 percent, or the equivalent of 7.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide or taking 643 cars off the road.
The district signed a five-year contract last year worth $1.9 million with Aramark Education, aimed at cutting the district's energy bills by as much as $3 million during that time.
In addition to the energy savings, Aramark is providing the district with another $384,000 in benefits. Over the life of the contract, the district expects to gain about $1.5 million, or more if current trends continue.
Aramark Energy Manager Michael Paparella told district officials Monday that the program already is ahead of schedule, having saved $506,010 in electricity, natural gas and water costs since November. About $405,000 of that savings covers the first year of the contract, leaving the district a net savings, so far, of $100,980.
"We've cut consumption by 15.6 percent in those nine months so those savings are only going to increase over time," he said. "The goal for the first year was $400,000 in savings and we're $100,000 above that with three months to go."
To get there, Paparella said, he and his staff studied and optimized the computerized systems that run all the equipment and lighting in each of the district's 35 buildings by setting the systems at one uniform temperature and time schedule. Gymnasium lighting also was retrofitted with more efficient systems in seven schools.
"After the ramp-up where we go after the low-hanging fruit, we'll focus on what can be done to bring up older schools by either retrofitting or looking at new technologies out there and combine those two to make them even more efficient," Paparella said. "That can be as simple as (installing) a photo cell for lighting controls or as sophisticated as replacing the entire computer system that runs the school."
By the end of the contract, he said, all of the district's systems would be unified into one remote or Internet-based system to make it easier to access.
Superintendent Kathryn Birkett said she was very happy with the first "energy program report card."
"To be able to have good news where we've actually saved more money than we believed we were going to going in is very nice for us," she said.
Finance Director Dave Holm said electricity trends also appear to be helping the district save.
"These numbers are based on consumption but we're also seeing some pretty good pricing for energy as well," he said. "So our budget for utilities right now is better than we anticipated."
All savings generated through the program are part of the $21.4 million in cuts the district made to balance next year's budget.
The goal is to have enough energy-saving plans ready to go so the district can apply for federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as they get appropriated.
ipsdweb.ipsd.org/Documents/1011/FinalFY11StateBudget.pdf
Indian Prairie District 204 approves $269.5 million budget
By jackmccarthy Special to the Tribune Sep. 29 at 10:35 a.m.
A $269.5 million budget for fiscal year 2011 featuring a $9 million surplus was unanimously approved by the Indian Prairie District 204 board this week.
But it’s still not the final fiscal plan.
Receipt of an additional $1.9 million in federal funds this month will require the district to submit an amended budget at a later date, along with official notices and public hearings plus another board vote.
The budget, which has $227 million in operating expenditures, reflects $21.4 million in cuts made earlier and a $7 million decline in federal stimulus aid. The $9 million surplus is the result of promised higher level of state support in a budget signed over the summer by Gov. Pat Quinn.
“This excess assumes the state is going to make every payment that’s in the state budget,” said Dave Holm, District 204 assistant superintendent for business. “We’re not spending it. We are assuming we will not get that money and are spending $9 million less.”
The district is also still due $6.3 million in state funds for fiscal year 2010 and expects delays in state payments to continue indefinitely.
“Overall, the district performed better (in 2010) than what we budgeted for, with one exception,” Holm said. “That $4.3 million deficit actually would have been a $1.6 million excess (surplus) had we received those funds.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
naperville.patch.com/articles/district-204-passes-2695-million-budget-saves-energy-and-dollars
District 204 passes $269.5Million Budget; Saves Energy and Dollars
Indian Prairie School District No 204
780 Shoreline Dr, Aurora, IL
Officials approved the 2010-11 budget while learning it has saved more than $500,000 in the first nine months of an energy management program.
By Mary Ann Lopez | Email the author | September 27, 2010
Money. That was the main topic of discussion Monday night as the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education passed its $269.5 million 2010-11 budget and learned that it recouped $500,000 in the first nine months of an energy management program.
Officials were pleased both with the budget and with the energy program, which came out of the district's need to trim $21.4 million in order to balance last year's budget.
When District 204 implemented its Energy Management Program earlier this year, the district hoped to see some positive results by the end of this year. Only nine months into the program, the district has experienced savings greater than the program's cost.
To date, changes made throughout the district's 35 schools have saved it roughly $506,010 in energy savings, according to Aramark officials. The cost to implement the program was about $400,000, so the savings have outweighed the cost. As the five-year program continues, the savings will continue to grow with the expectation that the district will save more than $1 million over the five years, according to officials.
To close a $21.4 million budget gap, the district took on a number of cost saving measures. To find cost savings the district allowed its vendor Aramark to do an energy audit to determine where the district could make changes that would have the biggest impact with the least cost.
Michael Paparella, energy manager, technical services with Aramark said that a baseline of energy use was established based on usage from Nov. 2008-July 2009. Then, the Aramark team began to look at ways to reduce consumption through a review of the buildings' systems.
"We really concentrated on the mechanical systems with minimal adjustments that made the differences," he said.
Retrofitting lighting in gymnasiums in seven schools will yield over $10,000 in energy saving per year, he said. The district received $25,000 in grant funding to implement the changes. The hope is that in the future lighting retrofits will be undertaken in five elementary schools and another 14 school gyms, mostly in Naperville.
Paparella said as the program continues, the goal is to work with the district IT team to implement remote access to the schools to streamline the monitoring process.
"Energy system optimizing is about constant monitoring," he said.
In the first nine months of the program energy consumption was cut by more than 15 percent, which was double the initial expectation, Paparella said.
To put it into perspective the environmental impact equals powering 408 homes, planting 717 acres of trees and taking 643 cars off the street, according to Aramark documents.
"I am so happy about this, about saving money and lowering our carbon footprint," said Board Member Dawn DeSart.
Board President Curt Bradshaw agreed: "Every dollar you can save in energy is a dollar we can put back into our district."
While the board was pleased with the savings of the energy program, it was also pleased that for right now it appears to have a budget that is balanced, though it was not implemented without difficulty.
The board approved the $269.5 million budget unanimously.
Board members noted that it was a long and arduous process.
The district has 100 fewer certified teachers and 50 fewer teacher assistants, said Board member Cathy Piehl, adding that there are larger class sizes with a smaller staff.
"This budget has been a mess, but we've made it work," she said.
Alka Tyle, board vice president, also acknowledged the difficulty that has been faced.
"The sacrifices people are making will continue in the coming year and I truly appreciate everyone trying to make it work."
Dave Holm, assistant superintendent, business and finance, presented the budget to the board. The budget reflected the $21.4 million in reductions that had already been undertaken.
Holm explained that the district will maintain a fund balance of at least 25 percent, and it is currently has a fund balance of $82.6 million, revenues of $281 million, or a ratio of 29.4 percent.
One issue that continues to vex districts across the state is state funding. Holm said the district is still waiting for a third quarter payment of $6 million from the state for special education programs. Though, he said, fourth quarter payments were made.
The district is acting conservatively with its planning, because its unknown how timely the state will make payments in the future. The budget assumes the $6 million owed is coming, Holm said, but it also assumes the in the future the state might be behind with payments by as much as two quarters.
"As I'm almost too tired to say, we continue to monitor things in the state," Holm said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
foxvalleysun.suntimes.com/news/schools/1783364-418/budget-district-holm-board-million.html?print=true
By Kathy Cichon
kcichon@stmedianetwork.com
Last Modified: Oct 1, 2010 06:07PM
After months of hard work, and, at times, emotional debate, board members in Indian Prairie District 204 unanimously approved the 2011 budget.
“Approving the budget is certainly a bittersweet experience. It’s nice to put it behind us, but I think the last few months have probably been the most difficult for a lot of people,” board Vice President Alka Tyle said Monday night. “Everyone has made sacrifices, but really that process has just begun. We’re approving the budget, but the sacrifices that people are making are just beginning, and it’s going to continue all through the coming year. And I sincerely appreciate the willingness of the people to share and spread the pain, and try to do more with less, so thank you very, very much.”
The board approved a $269.5 million operating budget. Salaries make up the largest expense at $181.49 million. All six funds have positive fund balances, showing a total of $9 million in surplus funds. But that assumes the state is going to make every payment, Holm said
“We’re not assuming that,” Assistant Superintendent for Business Dave Holm said. “It’s included in the budget presentation, but we’re not spending it. We are assuming we will not get that money and spending $9 million less.”
Several board members praised staff for what board member Dawn DeSart said involved “cutting deep and painfully at times and making it work to balance our budget.”
The budget does include the $21.4 million in reductions the board has discussed during the past several months, Holm said.
The district already had trimmed $9.2 million from the budget when state funding projections indicated another $12.2 million would need to be cut. The cuts were made through layoffs, increased class sizes, fee increases and reductions in program expenditures.
“This budget is equaling 100 less certified teachers for us this year and 50 less classified assistants,” board member Cathy Piehl said. “I think it’s important to point out, we’ve got a balanced budget, we got a great fund balance, we’re going to be recognized, but our staff are working with less people and our students are having larger class sizes.”
As part of the austerity process, the district laid off 150 teachers this year. Of those, 139 were eligible for recall. The district was able to rehire 92, Piehl said. Some teachers were eligible but had already found work in another district, she said.
Those who were rehired filled positions that were created when someone retired, moved or left the district.
“I think people had the perception that we simply put them back in the job they had before, when in fact in the overwhelming majority of cases, they were put into other positions,” board member Mark Metzger said. “Those positions were and still are eliminated.”
On Aug. 10 the Education, Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act was signed into law. District 204 will receive $1,936,194 in funds from the act, funds that will be used to pay for the 20.5 full-time equivalent elementary teachers, 2.1 FTE middle school teachers, 6.6 FTE high school teachers and 21.6 reading aides. The money will be reimbursed to the district on a monthly basis.
“Neither the revenue side of this or the expenditure side of this has been included in the budget presented to you tonight,” Holm told the board. “The decision was made to bring that to you as an amended budget at a later date.” Holm said.
The district is still waiting for the third quarter payment from Springfield for special education and transportation aid for fiscal year 2010. Currently due from the state is $6.3 million
“We anticipate that we will receive these monies and have been promised that we will receive these monies before December,” Holm said.
Despite the challenges, the district is projected to maintain its Aa1 rating with Moody’s and earn “recognition” status from the state for financial health, Holm said. The district is also projected to meet its fund balance to revenue ratio target of at least 25 percent, as well as its goal of maintaining its bonding capacity of more then 50 percent.
“We continue to hold a solid financial position throughout everything that we’re facing, and a lot of it has to do with that we took it seriously, dealt with it and made the adjustments we needed to make,” Holm said.
Moving forward, the district will continue to implement austerity plans. A financial report will be completed in next couple of months and the first forecast for fiscal year 2012 will be presented this fall.
Holm said the district will continue to monitor the state and its financial situation. With elections held in November and the legislature returning in January, that could change the outlook.
“That will tell us a lot about 2012, quite honestly,” Holm said.
Comment at napersun.com
---------------------------------------------------------------
www.dailyherald.com/article/20100928/news/309289924/print/
Article updated: 9/27/2010 11:02 PM | published: 9/28/2010 06:00 AM
District 204 realizing early energy, cost savings
By Justin Kmitch
With the help of an energy-savings contractor, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 has reduced its energy consumption since November by nearly 16 percent, or the equivalent of 7.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide or taking 643 cars off the road.
The district signed a five-year contract last year worth $1.9 million with Aramark Education, aimed at cutting the district's energy bills by as much as $3 million during that time.
In addition to the energy savings, Aramark is providing the district with another $384,000 in benefits. Over the life of the contract, the district expects to gain about $1.5 million, or more if current trends continue.
Aramark Energy Manager Michael Paparella told district officials Monday that the program already is ahead of schedule, having saved $506,010 in electricity, natural gas and water costs since November. About $405,000 of that savings covers the first year of the contract, leaving the district a net savings, so far, of $100,980.
"We've cut consumption by 15.6 percent in those nine months so those savings are only going to increase over time," he said. "The goal for the first year was $400,000 in savings and we're $100,000 above that with three months to go."
To get there, Paparella said, he and his staff studied and optimized the computerized systems that run all the equipment and lighting in each of the district's 35 buildings by setting the systems at one uniform temperature and time schedule. Gymnasium lighting also was retrofitted with more efficient systems in seven schools.
"After the ramp-up where we go after the low-hanging fruit, we'll focus on what can be done to bring up older schools by either retrofitting or looking at new technologies out there and combine those two to make them even more efficient," Paparella said. "That can be as simple as (installing) a photo cell for lighting controls or as sophisticated as replacing the entire computer system that runs the school."
By the end of the contract, he said, all of the district's systems would be unified into one remote or Internet-based system to make it easier to access.
Superintendent Kathryn Birkett said she was very happy with the first "energy program report card."
"To be able to have good news where we've actually saved more money than we believed we were going to going in is very nice for us," she said.
Finance Director Dave Holm said electricity trends also appear to be helping the district save.
"These numbers are based on consumption but we're also seeing some pretty good pricing for energy as well," he said. "So our budget for utilities right now is better than we anticipated."
All savings generated through the program are part of the $21.4 million in cuts the district made to balance next year's budget.
The goal is to have enough energy-saving plans ready to go so the district can apply for federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as they get appropriated.
