Oglesby schools face smaller deficit than forecast, tax bill from district may decrease

Oglesby schools still are projected to finish the school year in the red, but not by as much as the district superintendent initially thought.

Wednesday, the Oglesby Elementary School Board adopted a budget anticipating revenues of $7.75 million and expenditures of $8.8 million, leaving the district with a projected shortfall of $1,054,627. If it materializes, the district has the reserves to cover it.

When the tentative budget was unveiled in August, the districted anticipated smaller revenues of about $7.4 million and a steeper deficit of $1.2 million in the red. But Superintendent Michael Pillion had cautioned then the numbers are fluid — and indeed they improved at both ends.

Pillion explained in August expenses were skewed by a planned project — HVAC and kitchen improvements at Washington School — yet Oglesby taxpayers won’t see the tax rate go up when La Salle County mails property tax bills in May.

“We’re actually going to be able to decrease the tax rate,” Pillion said then. “All this will be done without increasing the tax rate.”