Plainfield School District Files an Amended Budget with a $1.8 Million Deficit
The district's operating fund deficit is an improvement over what was anticipated last fall, but reduction in general state aid could cause future deficits.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include response from Edward Hospital.
Plainfield School District 202 is projecting a $1.8 million operating fund deficit in its updated budget.
The school board on Monday approved putting its amended budget on public display for 30 days.
The $1.8 million deficit is an improvement over last September’s anticipated deficit of about $8.9 million. At the time, the school board was required by law to file its budget, but noted that it would be updating the budget throughout the year and filing an amendment this winter.
Related: Plainfield School Board Approves $198 Million Tax Levy
Among the savings include eliminating some positions that were included in the budget as placeholders only in the event that increases in student enrollment would force the district to fill those jobs, said Angela Smith, the district’s assistant superintendent for business and operations. Many of those jobs had been cut in prior years, but not removed from the budget, and the district has no intention of filling them.
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The district also received additional Title I revenue and has new energy savings, Smith said. Money was also saved in transportation because fewer bus routes were needed.
The board will vote on the amended budget at its March 18 meeting.
Financial woes are likely to continue for the district, mostly due to the unpredictability of state funding, according to Michael Frances, the senior financial advisor for PMA Financial Network.
The group predicts salaries will rise about 1.5 percent per year and health benefits costs will increase by 8 percent per year.
Also, the state is likely to decrease its general state aid. State funding for school districts was prorated to 89 percent, and that may decrease again, Smith said.
If the state prorates its general state aid to about 83 percent, the district is likely to face a $3.9 million deficit in fiscal year 2014, according to the PMA projections.
If general state aid remained the same, the district would have a slight surplus, Smith said.
The impact on the district would also be greatly felt if the state transfers its teacher retirement pension obligations to the local school districts.
Adding to the district's financial woes, according to Supt. John Harper, is the fact that Edward Hospital received a tax-exempt charitable status, meaing District 202 will have to pay back $1 million in taxes the hospital has already paid.
“The impact on a school district … is highly significant,” Harper said.
The district will also lose $250,000 in annual taxes the hospital once paid, he said.
“Our taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill for them becoming tax exempt,” board member Rod Westfall said. “It’s asinine.”
On Wednesday, Edward Hospital released a statement in response to school officials' comments, noting that the hospital has invested more than $100 million in the Edward Plainfield campus.
According to Edward, the hospital first began applying for tax-exempt status in 2008. While the state did not make a decision on the applications until 2011, Edward continued making its property tax payments, and District 202 received an annual notice regarding the hospital's request for the tax exemption.
"Edward Hospital & Health Services is a not-for-profit and has been for many years," Edward said in the statement, continuing,
We are also one of the largest employers in the region with more than 4,700 staff ... When the Edward Plainfield campus opened in 2008, Edward filed for property tax exemption for that parcel — and continued to re-file each year. Edward did the same for other parcels on its Naperville campus.
However, for the past few years the Illinois Department of Revenue did not act on those applications, or the vast majority of applications, until recently. Edward paid property taxes on parcels with pending applications for the years in question, as required by law, with the understanding that the money would be refunded provided that the tax exemptions were approved. We had every expectations that our parcels would be tax exempt, and each has subsequently been designated as such.
Each year when Edward filed its tax exemption application, we notified via certified letter each key taxing body in the county as required by law. There were also open hearings about our applications for property tax exemption at the board of review at Will and DuPage counties.
We closely followed the rules of the tax exemption process and provided full disclosure to taxing bodies that we were seeking tax exemption, which put them on notice that the money we had paid in taxes had the strong possibility o being returned to us after a decision by the Department of Revenue.
Edward has earned our tax exempt status by providing nearly $87 million in community benefit last year, including a generous charity care policy that exceeds the state's requirements.
Read:
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In This article
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Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202
15732 S Howard St, Plainfield, IL -
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Edward Plainfield Medical Campus
24600 W. 127th St., Plainfield, IL -
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Jack LaLane
4:59 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
I moved out of Plainfield 20 years ago, and I'm glad I did. A bunch of wanna be high rolling yuppies that think their shat doesn't stink. A 2 million dollar school budget deficit, and they think that's good because it isn't eight million?? The whole town has been out of control for years, trying to be another Naperville. And look at the poor downtown district- you can't even drive through it anymore. I feel sorry for you homeowners in P-ville. If you think your taxes are high now...just wait.
concerned resident
8:59 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
JL- good for you, you moved out 20 years ago, now let it go...I get that you want and wish Plainfield was the same small town it used to be. Maybe it would be best for you to stop driving through downtown, then it won't bring back such fond memories of the town you couldn't wait to get out of. Just out of curiosity, what did you do to try and do to change the "whole town has been out of control for years"? Nothing.! So go back under the rock you have been living under and get a grip on life and progress.
Jack LaLane
10:10 am on Sunday, February 3, 2013
concerned- you're another one of the aholes I'm talking about. ENJOY THE TAXES.
MidwestGal
5:29 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Thank goodness you moved and stayed away! A resident with your holy attitude is certainly not needed or wanted here. Plainfield actually has the least amount of yuppies around - that's why our schools are over crowded and in debt - because there are so many families. NO ONE wants it to be another Naperville - if they did, they would move to Naperville! Heaven help them if they do because there is school debt, overcrowding, foreclosure, herion, meth in high schools, crimes, sex offenders, and high taxes in Naperville too. I will take a Plainfield school over a Naperville school any day of the week! So please do not feel sorry for us, we can leave just like you did!
Jack LaLane
12:38 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Screw you. The reason for high taxes is, all residents and no industry. The Plainfield schools-which I went to and were good "back in the day" and why you bought there- are now substandard and full of whiggers. I lived in classic P-ville- 35 years ago+ - when it was a small farm town, and before all you aholes moved in. Glad I got out, and hope your taxes go through your damn gold-gilded roof. Pffft.
Rev
3:02 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Sounds like the district needs to cut any activity that is not school related. All sports, acting, music, etc. need to by pay to play. Stop soaking the taxpayers for these extra activities.
Zaney
3:36 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
@Jack.....Plainfield is no longer a "small farm town" because all of the farmers sold their land for millions and millions of dollars which is what brought assholes like us here. Don't be mad at us, be mad at the people who sold their land. If they would have kept it in their families instead of becoming millionaires, Plainfield would still be the small town it used to be and we would not be living here. If you need a list of those people, just look at the subdivision names. All you need to know. And FYI, I truly came from a small town and to this day, is still a small town because no one sold their land off to developers. And who knows, you may be one of those people. Or, you may also have been one of those people who took advantage of all of us "assholes" by owning a business which we went to because there was nothing else around. Didn't hear any complaining then....only when the bigger stores arrived and took all the small business. So screw you!! I came to this town 20 years ago (again because the land was sold to developers), paid very high taxes to pay for all the schools that needed to be built, volunteered within this community, shopped within this community and respected this community Look at the people making the decisions for this town - "good ole Plainfield people". Not the new comers...or assholes as you like to refer to us. Trust me, those who were not born and bred in Plainfield but who currently live here know who the assholes really are!
concerned resident
9:08 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Spot on Zaney. Greedy old time Plainfield farmers sold the land, greedy Plainfield developers built the subdivisions and folks looking for a nice place to raise families moved in. Seems like everybody came out a winner....
Jack LaLane
10:17 am on Sunday, February 3, 2013
I'm not mad at the farmers. I would have done the same thing. And left when the snooty aholes who can't control their spending moved in. That's why so many mortgages are upside down- and there are PLENTY in P-ville. Paying $300,000 for a house worth less than half that, and your taxes are based on what you paid for the house. YOU signed on the dotted line and accepted the terms. Now live with it and your whiggers.
Lisa S.
5:40 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Oh children...it's not about who moved here, who left, or why. It's about a school district with no concept of money. Raises being paid with money we don't have, two superintendents in district employ, and it seems like we have so much admin that they outnumber teachers at this point. How about cutting from the top down. Pay for play sports is great but it won't even make a dent.
And as for Edward...you have to be kidding me with that 'we have given you so much' crap. Their PR department must be working overtime, as did their tax people and lawyers who managed to scam a 'charity' distinction out of the state.
Elizabeth L.
12:06 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
According to a recent report from the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, tax exempt hospitals in the metropolitan Chicago area, including Edward Hospital and Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital, contribute more than $3 billion annually in charitable community benefits. The positive impact the billions of dollars in charitable community benefits hospitals provide have on the public cannot be undervalued and is often overlooked.
The Illinois General Assembly last year passed legislation acknowledging the vital contributions nonprofit, tax-exempt hospitals put towards continuing their mission of providing high-quality, accessible care for the people they serve. Nonprofit hospitals reinvest their tax exemptions back into their facilities and operations to ensure that they can continue to: provide care to the most vulnerable in our society regardless of their ability to pay, bring needed health care services into their communities, educate tomorrow's physicians and nurses, research cures for diseases, and provide language assistance services- all critical services that our communities rely upon.
Hospitals, including Edward and Adventist, have and will continue to provide billions of dollars in charitable community benefits because of their vested interest in the physical and fiscal health of their communities. Such charitable benefits are integral to protecting access to care throughout the metropolitan Chicago region and preserving our critical health care safety net.
Lisa S.
9:44 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Yes...the PR campaign. Just my point. You are obviously well paid. Kudos for your quick response to justify that salary ;-)
Jack LaLane
10:18 am on Sunday, February 3, 2013
Don't get me started on out-of-control hospital and doctor fees.
John Tips
1:22 pm on Sunday, February 3, 2013
They charge High School student to park at the schools - why not charge the teachers as well? We pay an exuberant amount in property taxes with the majority being the school districts - time to tighten your belt and live within your means! The school board need a lesson in economics - which must be a class they all FAILED in high school!