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Saturday, April 25, 2014
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Struna: The problem is revenue Hall looks at financial concerns By Becky Kramer
How to pay for busing costs at SVE
news@bcrnews.com
By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY — Dwindling state funding for transportation has got the Spring Valley Elementary School Board brainstorming on ways to decrease its busing costs. At the Thursday, April 23, board meeting, Superintendent Jim Hermes reviewed the current budget numbers within the transportation fund. Right now, the district has $29,381 to last the rest of the year. As previously reported in the Bureau County Republican, the district on average spends anywhere from $23,000 to $35,000 a month for transportation. “We don’t see any more money coming in,” Hermes said, referring to what the district expects to see from the state for the rest of the fiscal year. “We will end up in the red like we did a couple years ago.” Hermes said the budget will explain itself when it shows what was budgeted for the transportation fund, how much funding was expected from the state and how that money wasn’t reimbursed to the school as expected. “I’m very disappointed in the state,” Hermes said. “I think if anything were to happen (the state) would turn (the expense) back on the taxpayers and give us the ability to levy more money. Again, affecting taxpayers to pay for these bus routes.” During the meeting, Hermes said lack of funding has caused him to look at other options for busing. “We don’t know what the state is going to do with transportation,” he said. “So there’s very
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BCR photo/Lyle Ganther
Reaching the summit at LJHS Princeton’s Logan Junior High School students Koel Hjertstedt and Victoria Tieman climb a rock wall set up at the school Friday, April 24. Every four years, students are rewarded with a chance to climb a rock wall paid with by proceeds from the school’s fall pizza sale.
SPRING VALLEY — A reduction in general state aid combined with declining property tax revenue is causing the newly-reorganized Hall High School Board to make some difficult decisions. Hall Superintendent Mike Struna said, “Since 2010, we’ve been cutting expenditures, but this is a revenue problem not an expenditure problem.” The school is currently operating on approximately $700,000 less than in 2010, but revenues continue to decline. “We have kept the belt tight, but we will need to cut $300,000 for next year,” Struna said. Struna recently learned general state aid is going to be reduced an additional 2.25 percent for the remainder of this fiscal year which will result in an additional unexpected loss of $24,450. The one positive thing is that Hall will receive $18,013 of back funding from the state from the HB 317 Hold Harmless Bill. Struna provided the board with a review of deficit reductions throughout the past few years. Guidance counselors were reduced from three to one and one-half positions. Registration, athletic and lunch fees were raised multiple times. In 2015, the teaching staff was reduced by two positions. The custodial staff was reduced by one position, and administrators were reduced from three to two and one-half positions. Struna then provided information on some ways the deficit could possible by reduced for Fiscal Year 2016. The board will be making the decisions next month. Some possibilities include not filling an English teacher position, but class sizes could then potentially be 31-35 students.
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Taking a gamble Let it roll ... By Ken Schroeder Shaw Media Service
Editor’s note: This is the final story in a three-part series on video gaming in Illinois; how it works, where the money goes and who can benefit from allowing video gaming in their establishments. With more than $8 billion played in video gaming termiYear 169 No. 51 One Section - 20 Pages
nals during 2014, there’s a large number of people trying their luck at the slots. Although there are currently no figures available for the number of players, the number of terminals in the state has leveled off and is currently hovering at 19,000 for the last six months. In January of 2014, there were 14,426 slots statewide. At press time, at least two more locations in Princeton are waiting for the state to put five terminals each online.
Last year, 2014 was the year video gaming truly took off. Estimated money played for both 2012 and 2013 amounted to $2.6 billion with a state share of $77 million. This year also looks like a busy year for the terminals with February 2015 setting a record of more than $851 million played at an average of $30.4 million a day. There’s no single demographic as far as age, gender or income that indicates who is more likely to play, but the typical reason is
fun and optimism. Alan (not his real name) is feeding another $5 into a machine at a Princeton establishment as he nurses a bottle of beer on a warm afternoon. “I usually play two or three times a week at least,” Alan said. “I don’t really have a set limit each day. If I’m having a good day, I’ll keep going. If I spend $20 and I haven’t really had any luck, I’ll usually quit.” Alan’s luck is not so great this
particular day, but two machines down, his wife, Anne, is also playing, and her machine is ringing for the third time in 10 minutes. Alan said he’s had some good moments while gambling in the past. “I grabbed $200 once. That’s really been the biggest for me,” Alan said. “I only bet the minimum, so that’s pretty good. I
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