Policy

2:245 Fund Balance

Adequate financial planning is necessary to operate the schools and provide the highest quality educational programs possible, consistent with the financial resources available.

Therefore, the Board shall target a fund balance of not less than 25% and not more than 40%, representing approximately ninety (90) to one hundred forty (140) days of operation.  The date of measurement shall be June 30 of each fiscal year, and the measurement shall be consistent with that reported in the District’s Annual Financial Report filed with the Illinois State Board of Education.

If the fund balance percentage falls below the minimum percentage, the Board shall budget an annual surplus to restore the fund balance percentage to not less than the minimum percentage.

The fund balance should be considered relative to other necessary budgetary items such as normal building maintenance, adequate teacher allocation and desired educational initiatives.  To this end, the Board should foster community understanding of the various fiscal requirements necessary to support this fund balance policy.

Definitions

For the purpose of this policy, the following terms are defined as follows:

Fund Balance means balances as reported by the District Treasurer, comprised of the total fund balances of the Education, Operations & Maintenance, Transportation, and Working Cash funds less any reserve amount approved by the Board.  In the event that the fund balance of the IMRF/FICA Fund is less than zero, such negative amount shall be considered in this definition.

Total Revenues means revenues from all sources as reported to the District Treasurer, comprised of the Education, Operations & Maintenance, Transportation, IMRF/FICA, and Working Cash Funds.

Fund Balance Percentage means fund balance divided by total revenues, rounded to the nearest whole number.

Date Adopted:  May 24, 2016