Forest Park School District 91 is facing financial strain amid ongoing delays in property tax distributions from Cook County.
An end-of-year financial projection was presented by Robert Hubbird, district 91’s interim superintendent, during a school board meeting on April 9. According to Hubbird, the county owes the district an estimated $7 million.
“They’re not saying that’s how much we’re missing, but that is our estimate and we don’t know when we will get it,” Hubbird said. “No time frame has been given for when that’s coming in.”
The delayed payments have been attributed to ongoing computer system issues with Tyler Technologies, an outside vendor utilized by Cook County.
Hubbird said District 91 relies on local property tax revenues to fund its educational programs, pay its staff, and meet all other financial obligations.
The district’s fund balance is currently $29.8 million, though Hubbird said about $7.5 million is projected to be spent by June 30. The expenditures are expected to cover routine costs, including salaries and utilities.
“That’s going to drop our fund balance significantly and we don’t know when more revenue is coming in,” Hubbird said.
Unlike other school districts across Cook County that have had to borrow in order to maintain operations, District 91 has avoided taking on debt, relying instead on its cash reserves.
“Our reserves right now should cover us for about 10 or 11 months, but I’m hoping we won’t have to go that long,” Hubbird said.
In February, District 91’s school board approved and sent a resolution that called on the Cook County treasurer and other Cook County officials responsible for the issuance of property tax bills to promptly resolve all internal computer system issues and administrative failures.
The resolution said that delays in issuing property tax bills have led to anticipated cash flow challenges for District 91
“As a direct and unavoidable consequence of the Cook County treasurer’s failure to timely perform this core governmental function, District 91 has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars off of investments,” the resolution stated.
The resolution also stated that added costs have diverted funds from classrooms and student instruction, placing an unnecessary burden on local taxpayers.
“I just want to say that it is unacceptable that the county does not know how much they owe us or when they are going to pay it to us, but we have to pay our property taxes on time,” said Shannon Wood, the school board president.