Legislation Means No Tax Increase for Valley View

They’ve met half a dozen times this school year, with one major goal in mind, according to Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Gary Grizaffi: keeping taxes down.

Grizaffi said the district finance committee, comprised of board members Mike Evans and Rick Gougis, retiring Superintendent Phillip Schoffstall and successor James Mitchem, along with several other administrators, has come up with a plan that will allow the board of education to make good on its promise not to raise taxes this year.

In December, , but vowed to adjust the levy before adopting a new budget in order to keep tax bills down. By state law, school districts must submit a tax levy to the county clerk by the last Tuesday in December, but have until they pass their budgets in the spring to change the figure.

Board members got some help in keeping their promise last week , which gives the district an extra five years to pay back debt.

That will give the district time to restructure its debt service without raising taxes. According to Grizaffi, though the bill gives local school districts the ability to extend the timeframe for paying back debt from 20 to 25 years, Valley View will extend its current debt to 22 years.

Having a little breathing room will allow the district to make good on its pledge not to raise taxes, he added, but there’s more.

According to Grizaffi, by restructuring the debt, the district will be able to actually cut taxes, reducing its levy by $17.5 million over the next five years.

“It’s the first time in a long time that’s been done in Valley View School District,” he said. Over the same time frame, Grizaffi said, the district will also pare down a projected $5 million deficit.

More financial good news from Springfield comes in the form of Quinn’s proposed state budget, Grizaffi said, which calls for a foundation level increase of $148 per student. If it’s approved by lawmakers, the increase would mean an additional $2.4 million in general state aid for Valley View, he noted.

The finance committee’s plans also call for bringing back the district’s capital improvement program. According to Grizaffi, tough financial times have caused the district to hold off on making repairs and improvement projects at some of its buildings over the last few years.

Grizaffi said staff members have created a five-year plan prioritizing the most-needed projects.

Evans called the finance committee’s work to improve the district’s bottom line a “long, daunting process,” acknowledging that it doesn’t solve Valley View’s financial woes.

“It’s not going to be fixed overnight,” he said. “It wasn’t caused overnight ...

“There is not a perfect solution,” Evans added, calling the committee’s plans “the best of 60 scenarios” explored.

 State $8.3 behind in school funding payments

Grizaffi also updated the board on how the state is doing in paying off its debt to the district. 

As of Feb. 28, the state was $8.3 million behind in paying the district for things like bilingual education, early childhood programs, free breakfast and lunch, and transportation reimbursements.

“So (they’re) about 50 percent in arrears,” Grizaffi said, adding the state has been making sporadic payments.

“Three thousand here, five thousand there,” he said. “Nothing substantial.”

The district is scheduled to receive one payment for mandated categoricals–services the state requires the district to perform—in April, Grizaffi said.

But by then, the state will have run up an estimated $12.6 million in debt to the district, with no indication it will pay in full soon.

“Unfortunately, there’s no money in the till,” Grizaffi told board members.