Waukegan CUSD 60 staff present FY26 budget assumptions, project modest revenue increase while monitoring risks

At a committee-of-the-whole budget workshop, district finance staff reviewed fiscal 2026 revenue and spending assumptions and urged the board to consider raising property tax levies to recapture prior years' lost base funding.

The presentation, led by Gwen Polk, focused on projections the district used to build a proposed FY26 spending plan: a projected $977,000 decline in local revenue, an increase of roughly $4.8 million in state revenue (driven in the presentation by an assumed 4.1% rise in evidence-based funding), and an approximate $1.6 million drop in federal revenue tied to expiring grants and uncertainty around Medicaid. Polk said the net effect across funds was a projected increase in revenue of about $2.2 million "across all nine of our funds." Polk added, "we're poised to pivot," describing the budget team’s intent to adjust if federal or state dollars change.

Why it matters: the district’s long-term fund balances and cash position shaped the discussion. Polk showed ending-year fund balances the presentation listed for FY25 projections…