Litchfield Board Adopts $140,000 Surplus Budget for FY 2027

Litchfield Community School District #12 Board of Education | September 17, 2026

Article Summary: The Litchfield Board of Education on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, adopted the district’s fiscal year 2026-2027 budget after a public hearing at which Superintendent Dr. Kelly McClain reported the district is in a stable financial position, with the Education Fund projected to finish the year with a $140,000 surplus and a $7.75 million ending balance.

FY 2027 Budget Key Points:

• The Education Fund (Fund 10), the district’s largest operating fund, is projected to end the year with a $140,000 surplus and an ending balance of $7.75 million.
• The South Central Illinois Regional Workforce and Training Center is budgeted within Fund 10 and is expected to generate $721,400 in revenue against $637,000 in expenditures.
• McClain reported that salaries, benefits, insurance, utilities and contracted services continue to rise while some major revenue sources grow more slowly.
• The budget was adopted on a 5-0 roll call vote, with board members David Belusko and Mandy Jewell absent. No member of the public spoke at the hearing.

LITCHFIELD — The Litchfield Board of Education on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, adopted the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget for Litchfield Community Unit School District #12, following a public hearing at which Superintendent Dr. Kelly McClain told the board the district can meet its current obligations while continuing to plan ahead.

The hearing, the second of three held before the board’s regular monthly meeting, was called to order at 6:05 p.m. at the District Office, 1100 N. Old Route 66, and adjourned at 6:18 p.m. No member of the public offered comment.

McClain, who serves as the district’s Chief Fiscal Officer, presented the budget to the board. According to the minutes, she reported that the district’s budget “is in a stable financial position,” and that salaries, benefits, insurance, utilities, contracted services and other operating costs continue to increase while some major revenue sources are growing more slowly. All funds are projected to end the fiscal year in the positive.

Education Fund Projected to End With Surplus

The Education Fund — Fund 10, the district’s largest operating fund — is projected to end the year with a surplus of $140,000 and an ending balance of $7.75 million.

Also budgeted within Fund 10 is the South Central Illinois Regional Workforce and Training Center, which the district’s own agenda documents also refer to as the SCI Regional Workforce Training Center. McClain reported the center is expected to generate $721,400 in revenue against $637,000 in expenditures.

In closing, according to the minutes, McClain “stated that overall the budget is responsible and allows the District to meet its current obligations while continuing to plan for the future.”

Tentative Budget on Display Since August

The adoption followed the statutory display period. A tentative budget was brought before the board at its Aug. 18, 2026, meeting, and the proposed budget has been on display at the Unit Office since 8 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, for public inspection. According to the background memo accompanying the motion, all questions from the public have been answered.

During the regular meeting, which was called to order at 6:21 p.m., Vice-President Ron Anglin moved to adopt the budget and Mark Bloome seconded. The motion carried 5-0 on a roll call vote, with President Julie Abel, Anglin, Bloome, Secretary Valerie Cain and Jimmy Gorowski voting yes. Belusko and Jewell were absent from the entire meeting, including all three public hearings.

Related Financial Actions

The board took several other financial actions the same evening that bear on the budget picture. It approved the transfer of $795,400 from Capital Projects Fund 60 to Debt Service Fund 30, and the transfer of $1,225,000 from the Working Cash Fund, distributed as $1,000,000 to Capital Projects, $200,000 to IMRF/Social Security and $25,000 to Tort. Both transfers passed 5-0.

The board also approved its annual District Risk Management Plan, which identifies eligible expenditures that may be paid from the Tort Fund. According to the background memo, the plan is reviewed each year “to make certain our Risk Management Plan is adequately addressing our tort exposure and allowable use of tort funds,” and the minutes note the plan is updated annually to align with the current budget. That motion, made by Anglin and seconded by Cain, also carried 5-0.

Under the consent agenda, approved 5-0 on a roll call vote, the board accepted the treasurer’s report showing an ending balance in all funds at Aug. 31, 2026, of $20,872,903, with $17,083,117 in operating funds and $1,867,862 in Capital Projects.

Separately, the board earlier in the evening held a public hearing concerning its intent to sell $1,100,000 in working cash bonds. That hearing, called to order at 6:00 p.m., drew no public input and was adjourned the same minute. No action on the bond sale itself appears in the record of the September meeting.

The board also approved, as part of the second reading of policy revisions from Illinois Association of School Boards PRESS Issue #122, a change to Policy 4:80, Accounting and Audits, setting the district’s capitalization threshold. Under the adopted language, “To be considered a capital asset for financial reporting purposes, a capital item must at or above a capitalization threshold of $10,000.00 and have an estimated useful life of greater than one year.”