The Flossmoor School District 161 Board of Education voted to adopt a budget for the 2025-26 school year at the Sept. 22 budget hearing and board meeting. 

The budget of approximately $49.1 million is very similar to the one the board approved last year. Associate Superintendent Fran LaBella credited the similarities to the board’s decision to maintain the same tax levy and to the absence of new property tax relief grants this fiscal year.

The district plans to collect approximately $21 million in property tax revenue and expects an increase of around $160,000 from new properties entering the tax rolls. While this budget reflects the board’s efforts to keep District 161’s portion of property taxes flat, the board is expected to discuss the future of the tax levy at an October meeting.

According to board documents, the budget has an operating deficit of approximately $211,832, which is anticipated to be a surplus position by the end of the year. “That is really not a very large deficit,” LaBella said at the Sept. 8 board meeting. “I have no doubt in my mind that it will not be a problem at the end of the year.”

Local funds account for the majority of the district’s revenue, at approximately 52%. The State of Illinois will fund approximately 44% of the budget, with federal funds accounting for the remaining 4%. LaBella explained to the board that while recent changes in federal education policy have contributed, the increasing dependence on local funding has been a trend over the last decade. 

Expenditure varies among District 161 schools, but is approximately $20,000 per student. Flossmoor Hills is the highest, spending around $22,557 to educate each student. Western Avenue, the only school in the district that does not receive any significant federal funding, spends around $17,586 per student.