Wednesday evening’s (Sept 9) Danville District 118 School Board meeting was turned into a finance study session. It would be safe to say that four major issues were hanging in the air; three of which being talked about extensively.
One issue was about how important it is for the district to be very proactive in finding employees a better health insurance deal by the start of 2027. District Finance Director Todd Pence and DEA president Alan Rivers both made it very clear that a major confluence is about to cause a massive increase under the current deal. Superintendent John Hart stated afterwards that, no doubt, with the current DEA contract ending next summer, a better health insurance deal could certainly get negotiations started on the right foot.
Director of Finance Todd Pence (L) and DEA president Alan Rivers (R) during workshop discussion about health insurance issues.
AUDIO: And we’ve had just informal conversations with Mr. Rivers about where we are with negotiations; what it looks like financially. He’s very aware; he’s on the insurance committee. He knows where the insurance is now. And we have no desire to pass that on to our employees. We value our employees, and we’re going to do everything we can to work something out.
One thing that already seems started on the right foot is the district’s discussions with both Danville and Tilton about allowing 118 to recover some of the property tax revenue that’s lost to multiple active TIF (tax increment financing) districts in both municipalities. Hart says, of course the school district likes positive development within its boarders. But TIF districts active for 23 or more years take away big time amounts of money. Hart says it would be nice if 118 could get, certainly not all of it back; but some of it.
Superintendent John Hart provides latest information on TIF District discussions with Tilton and Danville.
AUDIO: We have sent some documentation to Tilton, so they can look at the financial situation of the school district. We’ve tried very hard to be transparent with where we are financially; what our needs are, what our wants are. Mayor Wear had been very open to the conversation; same with Mayor Williams of Danville.
The next step on the TIF issue is when District 118 will be presenting at the Thursday, September 17th Tilton Village Board meeting, which starts ata 5:30 PM.
Major issue number three talked about Wednesday night is that the new budget still needs to be passed. When the budget was put on display, it was stated that the proposal has about a $7 million deficit, with about $101 million in revenue and $108 million in expenses. But now, that $7 million dollar deficit looks to be lower, around the $5 million mark, because some salaries were being allocated from two different sources; as Superintendent Hart explains.
District 118 Board member Christopher Easton (foreground) and Director of Finance Todd Pence (back, left) during budget discussions.
AUDIO: There were some staff members who; we moved their positions to grants. And basically, they were being charged twice, hypothetically; again, paid out of two separate accounts. That was a good find.
The earliest the budget could be voted on is most likely at the next scheduled District 118 Board meeting; with is Wednesday, September 23rd; budget amendments would then be made once the district’s audit is completed.
The fourth lurking issue, which Superintendent Hart stated he could not comment on, had to do with the latest news concerning Former Superintendent Dr. Alicia Geddis’ August 20th filing of a lawsuit against the district and two specific board members at the Federal Court Office in Urbana.
