CHICAGO () — Chicago Public Schools is warning that slow-moving Cook County property tax collections are adding tens of millions of dollars to the district’s borrowing expenses as officials try to plug a budget gap topping $700 million.
According to the district, the lag in county property tax payments has created an estimated $250 million cash shortfall for CPS this year.
“During the course of the school year, that money eventually will come in,” said David Greising, president of the Better Government Association. “That said, it’s a significant amount of money for a school system that needs every penny it can get.”
As ABC7 Chicago has previously reported, the delayed revenue is connected to ongoing complications surrounding Cook County’s multiyear technology overhaul of its property tax system. CPS is not the only public agency waiting on tax dollars, but the timing is especially difficult for the school district as it works to adopt a balanced budget while weighing staffing reductions and furloughs to help address the deficit.
School Board member Jitu Brown said the district’s money problems cannot be blamed solely on delayed county payments.
“The problem goes way beyond the county. The problem goes, again, to a structural deficit that needs to be fixed at the state level,” Brown said.
Brown has pushed back against the proposed cuts and is calling on state lawmakers in Springfield to convene a special session focused on fully funding Chicago Public Schools. Whether that could happen before students return for the new school year remains uncertain.
CPS officials are hoping to approve a budget by the end of July, ahead of the district’s typical timeline, so they can line up borrowing needed to keep day-to-day operations funded.
School Board member Jennifer Custer, writing in a Chicago Tribune op-ed, warned of the consequences of failing to approve a budget this month.
“If we do not pass a budget this month, CPS will not be able to talk to banks to secure the money to pay any of its bills,” Custer wrote.
Greising said the situation highlights the district’s financial constraints.
“It just speaks to the kind of thin margin for error that the school system has,” he said.
CPS is calling on Cook County to release all outstanding tax revenue, arguing that every dollar spent on borrowing could instead be directed to classrooms.
