By Carmen Ensinger
Carrollton School Board passed the amended Fiscal Year 2026 budget at the June 21 school board meeting. At the end of the day, despite a $855,200 deficit in the Operations and Maintenance Fund, according to the State, it is a balanced budget.
“We are pleased that this amended budget is balanced,” Superintendent Jason Bauer said. “We were able to do this while also making investments in personnel, materials and upgrades to our facilities. Our aggressiveness with grants and securing funding from alternate sources helps.”
Bauer said there is always uncertainty at the State level because Illinois has historically struggled to fully fund public education.
“Although we were happy to learn the Governor’s final budget included investments in evidence-based funding, there is still cause for concern due to the continued proration of MCAT’s (transportation),” he said. “Nevertheless, the District will continue to allocate resources wisely. There is also concern due to cuts being made at the federal government level. Title money (title grants) is being slashed again for next year.”
As for the deficit in the Operations and Maintenance Fund, Bauer said there is an explanation for that.
“That can be attributed to the $1,044,476 debt certificate payment,” he said. “If that payment doesn’t come out of the fund, you are looking at an O and M fund that would have been in the black.”
The other fund that is showing a deficit is the Tort Fund by $3,898.
“There is no real concern with these two funds as Tort is limited in what the money can be used for (Insurances),” Bauer said. “We have adjusted the strategy in FY27 by levying an additional $15,562 in tort.”
The funds with positive balances include: Education, $429,922; Transportation, $66,746; IMRF/SS, $25716; Capital Projects, $51,820; Working Cash, $7,692 and Health Life Safety, $2,007,142 (HLS Bond).
