Elwood district details $78.5 million budget with 2.64% levy; warns steep cuts if voters reject

The Elwood Union Free School District presented a revised $78,500,000 budget that the Board of Education approved for submission to voters with a proposed tax levy increase of 2.64%. District staff told residents that the board adopted the revision after additional reductions and that the budget requires a 60% supermajority approval at the polls.

At a public hearing, district presenters said the administration identified roughly $827,000 in additional reductions since an earlier draft, bringing total cuts during the budget process to about $1.9 million. The presentation explained those savings came largely from retirements, combining low-enrollment classes and eliminating some full-time positions, and that the revised budget includes one year of a five-year literacy program and capital transfer for roof work at James H. Boyd Auditorium.

Why it matters: officials said if voters reject the budget on the mandatory re-vote scheduled for June 17, the district must adopt a state-mandated contingency budget. Under contingency rules described at the hearing, the district would have to make an additional roughly $1.4 million in reductions that could produce about $3.3 million in total cuts compared with the original proposal — reductions that staff warned could mean cuts to elective and AP…