Geneva 304—finance staff presents preliminary 2026—7 education fund budget showing $2.06M shortfall

Todd, the district's finance presenter, outlined the Geneva CUSD 304 preliminary 2026—7 education fund budget, saying, “revenue is $84,833,447 and that will be used to pay against our expenses of $86,891,675,” and that the current estimate is an "education fund deficit of $2,058,228."

He broke down major revenue and cost items: local property tax revenue of about $73,731,373, food-service receipts of $6,009,854, evidence-based state funding held at $2,144,000, and federal grants and reimbursements near $1,874,000. On the expenditure side, he listed salaries at $61,459,285 and benefits rising to about $10,904,634; purchase services were estimated at $7,303,390 and other object categories captured the rest.

Todd told the board the budget assumes full staffing and reflected recent increases in health insurance costs (PPO up ~6%, HMO up ~10%), and he noted capital transfers not yet fully accounted for could increase pressure on the operating fund. He said the budget did not yet include three-to-four million dollars that may be transferred to fund 60 capital projects and that the district will identify those transfers during later phases of the budget process.

Board members pressed Todd on local property-tax appeals. A board member noted a higher-than-usual number of protests this year; Todd said the district processed roughly 22—6 appeals this cycle (compared with a typical eight to 10) and estimated lower construction-growth assumptions (about $7 million versus prior years' $12—5 million), both of which reduce equalized assessed value and levy dollars. He added that some recapture could occur in the next levy cycle but the amount is unknown.

Todd closed by outlining next steps: monitoring May year-end balances, refining grant carryover estimates, and returning in June with an updated draft budget for further board review. No formal budget vote took place at the meeting.