Mokena 159 Board Approves Amended Budget Amid Transparency, Deficit Concerns

The Mokena School District 159 Board of Education approved an amended budget for fiscal year 2025 in a contentious 6-1 vote Wednesday night, following sharp criticism from a board member and several residents over transparency and a projected $1.96 million deficit.

The final vote came after a lengthy public hearing and discussion where Board member Kelli MacMillan, the lone dissenting vote, detailed her concerns, which she had previously outlined in a formal email to the administration. The administration and the district’s auditor defended the budget, stating that their practices are compliant and that the deficit is a planned, temporary measure, not a structural problem.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, residents Sara Guldan and Sara Caris echoed concerns about the budget. Their questions set the stage for a debate that centered on the clarity and accuracy of the district’s financial reporting.

In a May 16 email included in the public meeting packet, MacMillan asserted that the district’s financial documents were inconsistent and did not align with Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) principles. “The tentative amended budget form, currently posted for public review, does not correlate to the skyward financial reports or the slide presentation in boardbook,” MacMillan wrote. “These inconsistencies prevent the Board from having a reliable, unified picture of the district’s financial position and violate GASB’s principles of transparency and comparability.”

MacMillan also pointed out that dozens of line items have exceeded their budgeted amounts without adjustments in the amended budget, undermining its credibility. She questioned why a deficit reduction plan had not been initiated or discussed with the board.

In a presentation to the board, Chief School Business Official Dr. Teri Shaw addressed the issues, explaining that the total difference between the original and amended budget expenses is a 1.16% increase. She noted that state funding and grant approvals often become available after the initial budget is passed, necessitating amendments.

Dr. Shaw’s report also included a detailed response to MacMillan’s email, both from herself and from the district’s auditing firm, Lauterbach & Amen. The auditor’s memo, dated June 9, stated, “As the district auditors, we have not found any lack of transparency or inaccurate reporting.” The firm noted that budgets are a reflection of “probable revenues and expenses” and that individual line items are not expected to match actual spending perfectly. They also stated that a formal budget amendment is only required by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) if changes are greater than 10% of an aggregate fund.

Dr. Shaw explained the deficit was largely due to timing and the district’s use of modified cash basis accounting. “In FY22, projects were not paid due to incomplete work in the Fund 21 Referendum fund. This caused a significant amount of deficit in the subsequent years,” she wrote in her report. “The deficit is reflective of paying for projects from the predecessor year as well as the current year. This is not a recurring deficit.”

According to a summary provided by Dr. Shaw, ISBE does not require Mokena 159 to file a deficit reduction plan.

The amended fiscal year 2025 budget projects total revenues of $26.9 million and total expenditures of $28.9 million, resulting in a deficit of $1.96 million. The district’s end-of-year fund balance is projected to be approximately $14 million, which represents 49% of annual expenditures, within the board’s policy range of 33% to 65%.

Voting to approve the amended budget were President Jim Andresen, Vice-President Samantha Tunney, Anna Briscoe, Eric Bush, Julie Oost, and Lisa Zielinski. Kelli MacMillan voted against the measure.