RECORD OF MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

MORRISON COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6

November 20, 2007

The special meeting of the Board of Education of Morrison Community Unit District #6, County of Whiteside, State of Illinois, was duly called and held at 3:00 P.M. at the Morrison Superintendent’s Office in said district on November 20, 2007.

On roll call, the following were present: Greg Houldson, Jim Prombo, Jim Ridley, and Ted Tilton. Also present were Superintendent Jody Ware, Fiscal Management Director Katie Kuehl, Regional Financial Consultant Brent Appell, Community Member Harvey Zuidema, and Recording Secretary Wendy Krajnovich. In the absence of the Board President and Vice President, Board Secretary Ted Tilton served as President.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

INFORMATIONAL REPORT

Illinois State Board of Education Regional Financial Consultant Brent Appell was in attendance to review Morrison financial data with the Board. He had prepared a number of financial projections based on expected revenue and expenditures and using trend data from past audits. Mr. Appell emphasized how difficult it is to project the future financial status of the district because so much is dependent on what the current governor will do with the FY08 budget (BIMP) and the foundation level. Hence, it is very hard to make accurate projections with so many variables dependent on the State of Illinois. The Budget Implementation (BIMP) will probably come through, but it could create cash flow problems for many districts. Going through the revenue accounts, Mr. Appell said it was showing that the only growth Morrison could most likely look forward to and depend upon would be local dollars.

Mr. Appell noted there is a hold harmless safety net provided by the State when district budgets get to a certain level, but before Morrison gets to that level, any losses would have to be actual losses.

There was discussion on funding distribution of the budget. Mr. Appell shared that generally salaries and benefits will account for 80% of a district’s budget. In Morrison, salaries and benefits claim 72% of the budget, with 9% of that being benefits. The cost of health insurance continues to be an issue and negotiated by March 1 of each year. When building the budget, Dr. Ware stated that we build in a 15% increase on health insurance but have not experienced that much of an increase over the past three years.

Dr. Ware also noted negotiations for employee salaries and insurance will begin in March. Mr. Appell warned the board that districts can get into financial trouble trying to keep up with wages offered by districts with a high EAV.

Along that same note, Mr. Appell cautioned that districts with a large unspent balance can get into trouble quite quickly, and need to be very careful about their spending. He emphasized that the Morrison district is in very good financial shape with its current unspent balance and should continue to build it up.

ADJOURNMENT 4:35 P.M.

Acting Board President Ted Tilton adjourned the meeting by consent at 4:35 P.M.

(President) _________________________________________

(Secretary) _________________________________________ Date Approved ______________________________