Financial Information
The Board and Administration of the district is committed to financial practices that exemplify transparency in governance, accountability to the public and fiscal responsibility to the local tax payers of the district. To that end, we have made the documents below available to members of the public. Should you wish to examine other documents or if you have questions about these documents, please contact Mr. Jay Kahn at jkahn@lb65.org (opens in a new window).
The Annual Financial Report (AFR) is a standardized document that meets independent auditing and reporting requirements for public elementary, secondary school, and unit districts.
The AFR includes all funds, account groups, and other components, that satisfy the school district’s audit requirements and provides levels of assurance to school administrators, staff, and other interested parties.
The Annual Statement of Affairs is a financial report that all school districts need to complete according to Illinois State law. Annually, school districts must publish a summary of the Annual Statement of Affairs in a local newspaper prior to November 30. School districts must also submit the full electronic report to the Illinois State Board of Education before December 15. The Annual Statement of Affairs contains a financial summary of a school district’s funds, tax rates, equalized assessed valuation, and enrollment. Summary information regarding employee salaries and payments to vendors is also contained in the report. Click on the links below to view the District 65 Annual Statement of Affairs Report for the past several years.
Each year the school board must create a budget that reveals the district’s income and expenses and it must make its annual budget available for public inspection. The budget is the school district’s plan for how it will allocate and expend revenue dollars. It is the basis for a school district’s tax levy.
The tentative budget must be displayed at least 30 days prior to its adoption. A public hearing must be held prior to the adoption of the budget. The district must publish a legal notice indicating availability for the public to inspect the tentative budget, including the date, time, and location of the public hearing (105 ILCS 5/17-1).
Public statute requires that the district’s budget be balanced, but establishes no penalty for the failure to do so except a requirement that if the budget is not balanced, the school district must adopt and file with the State Board of Education a deficit reduction plan to balance the budget within three years.
Districts must adopt an annual budget by the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year. September 30 is the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year for most Illinois school districts and the last day to adopt the annual budget. Within 30 days of adoption, the annual budget must be (1) filed with the county clerk (35 ILCS 200/18-50) and (2) transmitted electronically with a deficit reduction plan, if required, to the Illinois State Board of Education (105 ILCS 5/17-1, amended 07/01/2006). If a school district has an Internet web site, the current annual budget must be posted on the web site. Parents or guardians of the school district’s students must be notified of the budget’s availability and the web site address (105 ILCS 5/17-1.2).
Below are electronic copies of adopted budgets from the last several years along with any finance presentations that were given to the Board of Education concerning the adopted budgets.
In accordance with Public Act 097-0256, each school district must report to the Illinois State Board of Education, on or before October 1 of each year, the base salary and benefits of all administrators and teachers employed by the district. The information on administrators and teachers includes: name, position, title, salary, full-time equivalency, vacation days, sick days, bonuses, annuities, retirement enhancements and other benefits. Salary information reported includes all payments for duties performed during the school year including additional payments for summer school, coaching, activities, alternative high school, and other extra-duty assignments.
Additionally, in accordance with Public Act 097-0609, each school district must post on their website the “total compensation package” for employees who receive a compensation package that exceeds $75,000 per year. Public Act 097-0609 defines “total compensation package” as the employee’s salary, health insurance, housing allowance, vehicle allowance, clothing allowance, bonuses, loans, vacation days granted and sick days granted. This information is required to be posted within 6 business days after an employer participating in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund approves their budget.
TAKE NOTICE that Lake Bluff Elementary School District 65, Lake Bluff, IL, pursuant to “An Act regulating wages of laborers, mechanics and other workers employed in any public works by the State, county, city or any public body or any political subdivision or by anyone under contract for public body or any political subdivision or by anyone under contract for public works,” reviewed on May 28, 2019, as amended, has determined on, and as effective from May 28, 2019 that the general prevailing rate of wages in this locality for laborers, mechanics and other workers engaged in the construction of public works coming under the jurisdiction of the school district is the same as determined by the Department of Labor of the State of Illinois for Lake County as of June of the current year. A copy of the full Ordinance and the Department of Labor determination is available for inspection by any interested party in the main office of the Lake Bluff Elementary School District 65, and to any employer or association of employers and any person or association of employees who have filed, or file their names and addresses, requesting copies of the same.
The following are the current prevailing wage classifications and rates the Department of Labor ascertained for Lake County, IL:
Current Prevailing Wage Information (.pdf opens in a new window)
Most citizens are overwhelmed by the complexity of the property tax system. We believe that having a clear understanding of how taxes are determined will build trust with our constituents and to allow them to be able participate more effectively in civic life within our community.
All property tax systems contain two basic components:
1. Determining the amount of money (taxes) needed to operate the government; and
2. Apportioning the burden of those taxes among taxpayers.
In Lake County, IL, the property tax cycle can be separated into five distinct steps that occur over a two year period.
Step One: Property Assessment
All property is identified and assessed, by the Township Assessor, to determine the value of real property that will be used in the taxation process. The market and condition of property on January 1st determines its assessed value for that tax year, however, the assessment process is not complete until late summer or early fall. By law, in Lake County, property is to be assessed at one-third of its fair market value.
Step Two: Equalization
The equalization process recognizes that property values are estimated by different officials across the State and seeks to eliminate any over-assessment or under-assessment bias. Equalization is achieved by the application of a uniform percentage increase or decrease to assessed values of various areas or classes of property in order to bring assessment levels, on average, to the same percentage of market value. Equalization of assessed values is performed at each level of government - township, county and state.
Step Three: Levy Request
Each taxing district uses its budget process to determine the amount of revenue needed to operate. Lake Bluff Elementary School District 65 relies on property taxes for 90% of its funding.
The needed funds are then request through the levy process. Taxes are levied for a specific purpose, with each specific activity or objective segregated into a fund.
If the levy request, for the total of all funds, exceeds 105% of the prior year’s property tax extension, the district must hold a public Truth in Taxation hearing. The levy is then certified and sent to the County Clerk by the last Tuesday in December of the tax year.
Step Four: Calculation of Tax Rates
Tax rates are the method used to fairly apportion the tax burden among taxpayers.
Tax rates are calculated during the spring of the year following the tax year. The County Clerk divides the tax dollars levied by the equalized assessed values of local property in each district to calculate the tax rate. During this step the Clerk is responsible for ensuring that the tax rates do not exceed their statutory limits.
Tax rates for Lake Bluff Elementary School District 65 are subject to individual fund maxima set by the State legislature, as well as the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) (link opens in a new window), which limits the increase in operating taxes extended to the lesser of the increase in the consumer price index (CPI) or 5%.
The calculated tax rates are then applied to all real property within a taxing districts boundaries.
Step Five: Tax Collection
The Lake County Treasurer’s office mails the tax bills in May of the year following the tax year, and it collects the property taxes in June and September. The Treasurer distributes the tax revenue to each taxing district as it is collected. For a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and more detailed information on your property taxes please see the Lake County, IL website (link opens in a new window).
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