The District 233 proposed operating budget for the 2024-25 school year shows $72.73 million in revenues and $70.83 million in expenses for Homewood-Flossmoor High School.
The school board is expected to accept the budget at its Sept. 17 meeting. The FY25 budget extends to June 30, 2025.
Lawrence Cook, chief school business official, said the operating budget covers education (teacher salaries and benefits), operation and maintenance, transportation and working cash accounts.
The majority of the budget is funded by real estate taxes, expected to generate $38.56 million. Other local revenues estimate is $4.62 million. State support through Evidence Based Funding is projected at $23.17 million, including an additional $389,000 as a Tier 2 school. That additional revenue is meant to give some relief to districts with high tax rates.
District 233 will also receive restricted state and miscellaneous federal grants for special education, etc. Pandemic stimulus money the district received from the federal government as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds the past several years have expired. The district used the money for summer school and English/language arts instruction.
Cook said he expects the district will end the budget year on June 30, 2025, with a $1.9 million surplus.
The district’s largest expense is salaries. The board is still negotiating for a new contract with the Homewood-Flossmoor Education Organization, the teachers union. Cook estimates the costs of staff salaries and purchases for staff development, etc. will be $39.3 million.
The fund balance is expected to be $47.7 million. For years, when state funding for education was precarious and reductions were the norm, the District 233 school board made a decision to maintain a fund balance that could cover 10 months of expenses. The current school board has changed the policy to six months cash on-hand and has begun to spend down its reserves for maintenance projects.
The budget shows increases in travel/professional development; online service; and operations and maintenance projects.
The budget includes special infrastructure projects, including $300,000 for repaving the tennis courts and $100,000 for track repairs; and $600,000 for miscellaneous projects, including HVAC and plumbing work, and bleachers for the North Building field house.
Cook said he expects the district will receive another $1.75 million Property Tax Relief Grant from the state. This funding is in addition to the state’s Evidence Based Formula money. The grant is intended to help give tax relief to property owners. In the past, the state has mandated that the school district abate the grant amount to the taxpayers. Cook said he is waiting for final numbers and direction on whether the board will be mandated to abate the amount for two years. The district is in the second year of its mandatory abatement for the 2023-24 grant.
The proposed FY25 budget is available for review online at bit.ly/D233-FY25-proposed-budget. It is also available for review in the District 233 business office in the North Building. The document will be on file until the Sept. 17 board meeting.