State releases school financial report card
Collinsville and Triad districts both see improvement
While state officials are crediting the better financial scores with a $5.9 billion increase in school funding, courtesy of Gov. Rod Blagojevich and lawmakers, local district officials are saying the better ratings have less to do with their spending habits than it does with getting tax money on time.
Released each March, the state's financial rating is based on an analysis of five criteria:- Fund balance to revenue ratio,
- Expenditures to revenue ratio,
- Days cash on hand,
- Percent of short-term borrowing available,
- Percent of long-term debt remaining.
Each school district is scored in those areas and given a final rating on a four-point scale.
The best rating a district can receive is "recognition" for those scoring 3.54 and above. They are followed by districts in "review" (3.08 to 3.53), "early warning" (2.62 to 3.07) and "watch" (1.00 to 2.61).
From 2006 to 2007, Triad saw its score rise from 2.80 to 3.15 - enough to go from early warning to review.
District Business Manager Ken Miller said he was happy to see their rating go up, but over the years has grown leery of how much someone can really draw from the state's financial report card.
"It's always good to see improvement," he said. "But in my estimation, the financial status of the district hasn't changed much in the last couple years."
According to Miller, each year the ratings are heavily based on whether or not the state sends out tax payments by June 30 or not - something over which school districts have no control. If those taxes are sent on time, school districts will have a better looking fund balance. If they aren't received until July, the fund balance looks much worse.
For the 2007 fiscal year, those payments happened to arrive on time.
Miller said that over the last few years, the district has remained very close to breaking even each year - give or take about $100,000 either way. Triad's score was also affected by long-term debt, due to the bonds distributed for the construction of new schools.
"A more realistic way to look at it, is to say that we have remained stable," he said. "We haven't done much better or worse."
The situation was similar in Collinsville, where Unit 10 officials watched their financial profile rise two levels, with its score going from 2.55 in 2006 to 3.35 in 2007. However, Uta Robison, director of business affairs for the district, also attributed the increase to the timing of tax payments.
"We received one in June 2007 and one that should've (been received) June 2006 came in July 2007," she said. "I think we've done better watching expenditures but the major piece is the shift of the tax money coming in."
Regardless of the reason behind it, a high number of school districts across the state saw their financial report card scores go up for 2007.
According to the 2007 numbers, more than 70 percent of school districts (out of 873 in Illinois) were ranked in the highest category, recognition, and only three percent were left on the lowest category, watch. In addition, only 23 percent of school districts spent more money than they received.
Starting this year, districts will now be required to submit their annual budgets to the state board of education. Those found to be without a balanced budget will need to establish a deficit reduction plan.
Full information on district finances can be found at the Illinois State Board of Education Web site at www.isbe.net.
