It could take several years of paring down expenditures to achieve a balanced budget in Kankakee School District 111, school officials said Monday.

The Kankakee School Board approved a fiscal year 2026 budget this week, which includes about a $1.4 million deficit.

The budget covers the fiscal year that began July 1 and extends through June 30, 2026.

For Fiscal 2026, the district’s revenues are projected at $89,413,351.

That includes just under $27 million from local property taxes (57%), about $51 million from state sources (30%) and about $12 million from federal sources (13%).

The district’s expenditures add up to $90,822,420, leaving a deficit of $1,409,069.

Salaries and benefits make up the largest portion, about 67%, of expenses.

“I’m happy that the board approved the budget,” Superintendent Teresa Lance said after the meeting. “I’m disappointed that we don’t have a balanced budget. We’ve got work to do.”

The district’s fund balances are projected to go from $27 million to $25.6 million by the end of the fiscal year.

Harrison Neal, assistant superintendent of business services, said the budget is a plan that can change slightly throughout the year.

“The goal is to end the year at least in as good a place as where we started, if we can,” he said.

While the $1.4 million deficit isn’t ideal, Neal said he originally anticipated it would be closer to $5 million when preparing for the budget in May.

“We have managed to bring it down that much, and we still hope to continue bringing it down,” he said. “A lot of that will happen with how we operate and how efficiently we make things work.”

Difficult conversations will be coming on how to reduce costs, as expenses continue to rise at a faster pace than revenues, he said.

“We can afford the deficit budget for this year,” Neal said. “But we do have to act to correct that deficit and, in fact, make a surplus budget so we can increase our reserves.”

The school board’s policy is to maintain at least 63 days of reserves, or the length of time the district could continue paying its bills if money stopped coming in.

The district now aims to get closer to the state’s recommendation of maintaining 180 days of reserves.

“We’ve got to figure out, where are there opportunities to reduce expenditures?” Lance said. “We’ll be working on that this year and throughout the next several years.”

Reductions in federal funding for schools add to the difficult financial situation for Kankakee and others.

“We are not alone ... other school districts are dealing with the same thing,” she said.