FINANCIAL PROFILE

LEVY 2023

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FINANCE AND SCHOOL BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY

In March of 2001, then Superintendent Jerry Trickett made a recommendation to the Board of Education that they apply for a grant to build a new high school building from the Illinois State Board of Education School Construction Program from the Illinois FIRST initiative.  The district received notification of entitlement for a grant in the amount of 11 million dollars. This amount would cover one third of the projected $33M building cost.

The citizens of Marengo and Union voted to increase their real estate taxes for 20 years so the district could purchase a building bond to cover the remaining balance of the cost of the building.  On May 5, 2003, a ground-breaking ceremony took place at the site of the future Marengo Community High School, and we opened our doors to students on August 27, 2004.

Our building and all its mechanical equipment including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, emergency fire systems and other building infrastructure was new.  While this created a “honeymoon” period of time where few building repairs were necessary, it also created a challenge for end of lifecycle repairs, as everything of similar systems was the same age and would need repair or replacement at approximately the same time.  As the school district approached the end of the bond payments, it also approached the end of building equipment anticipated lifecycles. In 2018, the district had a Master Facility Plan completed by Green Associates, the school’s architectural firm, to help provide a road map for capital improvements and upgrades.  This helped to determine facility life cycle needs along with any other possible improvements and the estimated costs and timelines. This plan was developed by the engineers and architects in conjunction with community stakeholders including but not limited to the Building Leadership Team and high school staff, Student Council, Administration and Board members, Student Advisory Committee, and the Parent Advisory Committee.

After reviewing the information provided in the study which included needs and wants, items were narrowed down to the most critical operation and maintenance facility related repairs and approximate times when these were recommended to be completed. The total estimated cost for these improvements was $7.8M over the next ten years.

The School Board held numerous community meetings sharing details of the study completed by Green Associates, along with the estimated cost of repairs/replacements over the upcoming years.  Superintendent Engelbrecht also shared this information during an interview and discussion on the local Marengo Radio station.  The school posted these anticipated expenses and timelines on the school website under the Facility Updating Schedule and Financing Plan (2018), where they have remained to date.  The current and ongoing list of planned, in progress and completed projects can be found on our website finance page (click here).

When considering how to pay for these end of lifecycle building expenses, the following options were reviewed:

  1. Since the building bond would be paid off in 2020, one option was to acquire a new maintenance bond.  Taxpayers would see a slight decrease in their real estate taxes (the building bond tax would be eliminated, but there would be additional taxes levied for the maintenance bond).

  2. Another option was to increase the amount allocated to the building fund in the tax levy to pay for expenses over time by accumulating the necessary funds.  This may shift levied amounts in other funds.

  3. The final option considered was to transfer funds from other district accounts to the building fund, which would result in spending down fund balances. 

After much discussion and careful consideration of the community’s wishes, the School Board determined that they would not seek to acquire a maintenance bond.  In April of 2023, the Board held a public hearing and voted to transfer $2.5M from the Education fund to the Building fund to pay for specified end of lifecycle anticipated building costs (option #3 above).  The Board then transferred the $2.5M to the Capital Projects fund in September of 2023 to further restrict the use of these funds and better align with ISBE guidelines for deficit spending.  The school has levied to accumulate funds to pay for the necessary repairs and maintenance(option #2 above), as shared by the Superintendent and Board at various bond consideration meetings, budget and levy hearings, community meetings, even in our parking lot meeting during Covid-19 protocols.  This follows what was shared with the community during these meetings and on the radio.  

While the school has completed various projects as needed and listed in the Green Associates study, it has continued to update remaining items on the anticipated lifecycle schedule. We have moved forward with the plan shared with the community in 2020, and the school is currently working to allocate the costs over multiple years.  In the future, this will help with expenditures being distributed over time. 

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Historical documents can be found here.