Marty Hickman, Unit 5 School District business manager

“It just continues and continues.”

Barry Reilly, superintendent of Bloomington School District 87, shared these sentiments recently as he discussed budgetary shortfalls. A series of issues — including, but not limited to — the stalemate among Illinois lawmakers has made the budget-building process a challenging task for school officials throughout the region.

In September, District 87’s School Board adopted a 2015-16 school year budget that reflected a $1.4 million shortfall in education funding. Projected revenues clocked in at $46.3 million, while expenses totaled $47.7 million.

But the adopted budget occurred amid a backdrop of uncertainty, particularly with what is occurring in Springfield. Without a state budget in place, school district officials do not know how much funding will come in from state aid.

To close the funding gap, District 87 administrators and the board agreed to dip into reserves in the fund balance. But this method is generally viewed as a stopgap, temporary solution since dollars set aside in the fund balance are generally designated for emergency expenses.

The amount of a district’s fund balance also could play a role in its bond rating, which is important when borrowing takes place.

At the McLean County Unit 5 School District, the budget picture this school year has been somewhat more upbeat, though not without its own challenges.

Unit 5’s School Board in August adopted an operating plan for 2015-16 that included a surplus that is to be set aside for future years. Business Manager Marty Hickman’s plan, which was adopted by the School Board, called for bringing in $96.3 million in revenue and spending $95.8 million.

To back this plan, Unit 5 is planning to institute a 3.99 percent increase in the levy for property tax year 2015, though it could trend downward through the first quarter of 2016 because of other factors.

“This increase has been inflated, as it is every year, to capture any unforeseen increase in equalized assessed value between now and the actual final levy in April,” Hickman said. “Currently, we estimated the actual increase to be approximately 2.37 percent.”

Beyond big picture budget challenges, many school districts across the Heartland are grappling with another shortfall — substitute teacher staffing.

Bloomington is among the state districts that have gone in record in its pursuit of adding to its current substitute teacher pool, which has hovered around 200 persons.

On average, districts in Central Illinois pay substitutes a daily rate of $80, though compensation generally is higher for more specialized teaching positions and for longer-term arrangements.

State legislation passed five years ago, designed to mitigate school districts’ budgetary constraints, placed the cost of incidental fees — including background checks, certification costs and physicals — on the applicants, rather than the districts themselves.

That financial requirement, which costs around $225, has been cited as one possible reason districts have been sounding an ongoing call for substitute teachers.

Mark Jontry is a regional superintendent for districts in DeWitt, Livingston and McLean counties. Jontry said he and other school officials across the state are calling for a change in the legislation.

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— Bloomington, Unit 5 school officials grapple with budget —