Local schools, governments brace for financial hit due to state overpayments

Posted on April 25, 2016
Mark Daniel
Unit 5 superintendent Mark Daniel said the district would plunge into deficit spending if it had to come up with $228,000 in overpayments from the state. (WJBC file photo)

By Eric Stock

NORMAL – School officials hoping their next check from the state comes in the mail soon surely don’t want to see a bill instead, but they could soon.

About 6,500 local taxing districts were reportedly overpaid $168 million in property tax collections due to calculating errors that came with a new ledger system the then-Gov. Pat Quinn administration put in place in 2014.

PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Daniel on WJBC.

Unit 5 would have to reimburse the state $228,000.

“With some additional costs that we’ve had for transportation this year, if they would say ‘Send us that check tomorrow,’ it would be hard for us to have a balanced budget,” superintendent Mark Daniel said.

He told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin it would only be fair to have the repayments be spread out over several years, since the state has been consistently behind in paying schools for years.

“Most districts are in deficit spending, so this just adds fuel to the fire,” Daniel said.

Bloomington would have to pay back $236,000. McLean County would owe $194,000. Normal would have to reimburse $48,000. The Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District would have to repay close to $40,000. The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority would have to come up with $26,000.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].

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