LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
Publisher's note:
It is untrue that guests were told they could not make comments or ask questions during the meeting. Per the meeting agenda, Board President Kevin Knoepfel opened the floor to visitors for public comment near the conclusion of the Truth in Taxation hearing and did so again during the subsequent board meeting. Knoepfel clarified that the board would not necessarily respond directly to each comment or question during the meeting, but would still take any comments into consideration.
There was never any attempt to dissuade guests from making public comments.
“A portion of the meeting is set aside for recognition to visitors, which is time allotted for the citizens to comment on questions to the board. Each speaker shall be limited to a five-minute presentation. The board generally will not respond to your comments at this present time, but we will, rest assured … take that into consideration,” said Knoepfel. “Please, keep in mind the school board meeting is not a public meeting in the sense that there exists continual dialog between the members of the board and the audience, but rather, it's a business governing meeting for the Board of Education.”
PARIS—When it was first announced in November, the proposed 13.65 percent increase in Paris Union School District 95’s property tax levy sparked a fierce social media response, leading several Paris residents to announce plans to run for open school board seats in the upcoming April 2025 election. Despite the loud burst of online outrage, however, the levy passed unanimously on Monday, Dec. 8, during a Truth in Taxation hearing, and it did so without a single comment from the large crowd packed into the room.
Paris 95 Superintendent of Schools Mary Morgan Ryan addressed visitors to open the hearing.
“I'm new to the district and to the community, but I'm certainly not new to paying property taxes … and I also am not new to working in legal issues. I'm a former lawyer,” she explained.
After offering a “financial snapshot” of the district, Morgan Ryan outlined the levy increase and how it works. Each year, school districts are tasked with levying, or requesting, funds from local property taxes to operate the district.
Morgan Ryan explained districts have to calculate their levy based on the equalized assessed value (EAV) of local properties, which the county’s assessor releases. The challenge facing Paris 95 and all other Illinois school districts is that EAVs are only released in the spring or summer after levies have to be set.
“We're in a situation where we have to estimate the property value,” Morgan Ryan told visitors, adding, “It's in the school district’s—any school district’s—best interest to estimate high.”
Levies are capped at a maximum taxing rate set via public referendum. This means a district has limits to the amount it can receive from local property tax revenue. If the EAV rises on local homes and the district under-levies, it cannot revisit the levy to pick up any revenue it may have lost.
“If we estimate and the property value comes out higher, that money is never collected. It's left on the table, and the kids in the schools lose out because we didn't collect it,” Morgan Ryan said. “If we estimate the property value high, and the property value comes in here (below estimates), we are only allowed to collect as much as the maximum tax rates allow us to collect.”
The EAV of local property is expected to climb again this year, leading the district to increase its levy accordingly. School districts do not set EAV and tax rates. Levies are dictated by taxing bodies like school districts but account for a much smaller percentage of increases to a property owner’s tax bill than changes in a property’s EAV. In an example scenario using a $90,000 home, Paris 95’s proposed levy increase raised the annual tax bill by $20, or “about the price of movie tickets for a family of four,” according to Morgan Ryan.
Morgan Ryan noted the levy increase also affects the district’s eligibility for state funding, which accounts for 49 percent of Paris 95’s revenue. The amount of state funding earmarked for Paris 95 is largely dependent on the amount of local funding levied by the district – state funding is less likely to be sent to districts the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) feels isn’t making the most of resources from its local taxing body.
“The state does know whether we are doing our share, right? Whether we are collecting the money that the district is entitled to under those maximum tax rates,” Morgan Ryan explained.
She also noted that the state has offered the district plenty of grace concerning its repayment of misappropriated grant funding first unearthed in June 2023 — extending interest-free payment options and other assistance to Paris 95.
“The state has forgiven some of the amounts that we owed during the process last year. They've allowed us to pay back misused funds on an interest-free payment schedule, and we want to be a good partner with the state for those reasons,” she said. “If anything were to come up, we would not want to be in a position of looking like we're not contributing everything that we are able to.”
Morgan Ryan was quick to point out that grant repayments ($3,983,711 in total) are largely being covered through state aid and are scheduled to reduce in severity year-by-year until they are paid off in December 2031. Funds raised from the property tax levy are not being used for grant paybacks.
One of the larger issues facing the district, and one of the primary motivations for the aggressive levy, was discussed by ISBE regional financial consultant Julie Harrelson. Harrelson provides financial monitoring and consultation services for Paris 95, and explained the district’s days cash on hand (DCOH), a measurement of readily available funding, is below the state-recommended threshold. ISBE expects school districts to be able to operate 180 days with its cash on hand, while Paris 95 clocked in at 86 days cash on hand during its most recent evaluation. Bolstering the district’s reserves will be crucial in improving the district’s financial profile score, which sits at 3.7 on a four-point scale. Paris 95’s financial profile score was 2.6 in FY-2022, resulting in a “warning” designation before the district started cutting expenditures.
“That (DCOH) is bringing that indicator down considerably. And that's really why this hearing is here: because there is a cash flow problem,” Harrelson told board members during the hearing.
Harrelson commended the board for the corrective actions it took in response to 2023’s financial fiasco, namely bringing on interim superintendent Lorraine Bailey as well as bookkeeper and business manager Anna Collier to assist in steering the district back on course.
Finally, Harrelson backed a claim from Morgan Ryan stating the district likely used federal COVID relief funds, called ESSER grants, in previous years to supplement district revenue. This would have allowed the district to operate in the face of rising overhead costs and inflation without increasing its property tax levy. As COVID-related grants are phased out, however, Harrelson is seeing more districts turn to levies to make up for the lost revenue.
“I work in 38 counties, about 160 school districts, and more often than not, I'm seeing school districts go to truth and taxation hearing(s) at this time and capturing all the available dollars now that those COVID grants have expired,” she said.
After Harrelson’s presentation, board president Kevin Knoepfel offered a brief statement before opening the floor to visitors. Even though several guests had disclosed their intent to speak on the hearing’s sign-in sheet, the packed room fell silent, aside from some disgruntled murmuring.
The hearing was closed soon after, and board members moved on to the regularly scheduled meeting, where they unanimously voted to approve the levy increase. Board member Chris Milam thanked Morgan Ryan and Harrelson for their explanations of the levy and shared his thoughts with the crowd that remained.
“I know there’s been a lot of controversy about this subject … I want to look to a brighter future for our kids and make sure they get the funds they want and need … That’s the way my vote will be persuaded,” he said.
In other matters, the board heard several informational items and voted on several action items.
IDOT Hazard Applications
Morgan Ryan told board members the Illinois Department of Transportation approved 12 safety hazard applications filed by the district. The hazards will allow the district to expand its school bus coverage to students affected by the hazards, even if they were previously ineligible for transportation. The approved hazards also allow the district to seek state reimbursement for costs stemming from transporting those students.
Board member Beetle Bailey voiced his gratitude for the efforts of everyone involved with submitting the applications and noted the district’s commitment to removing barriers preventing children from regularly attending school.
“I hope that we're able to transport every kid in the district. That's the goal,” Bailey said, adding, “I think the people that worked on this deserve a big pat on the back.”
The board voted unanimously to incorporate the 12 hazards into plans for student transportation beginning in the 2025-26 school year.
Policy Changes
The board approved several changes to school board policies. Section 10, governing the Tiger Health Center, was removed. Section nine, which outlined information related to the 21st Century Community Learning Center grants used to fund Beyond the Bell programs in the district, was removed and turned into a handbook. Several policy exhibitions were removed and archived, and section 4:60 of the board policy, which governs purchases, was updated to prevent the Paris 95 superintendent from committing to any “non-customary” purchases exceeding $20,000 without prior board approval. The clause does not apply to personnel or emergency expenditures.
Other
The board unanimously voted to approve the ratification of four handbooks (the Paris Alternative Learning Site handbook, the 21st CCLC Beyond the Bell student and family handbook, the 21st CCLC Beyond the Bell staff handbook and a bus driver handbook). The board also approved motions to join of the Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools (AIRSS) and the National Schools Public Relations Association (NSPRA).
Several staff hires and resignations were also approved.