In nearly all Illinois school districts, the first quarter of the fiscal year ends on September 30. That is also the last day for school boards to adopt a balanced budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Although the law requires boards to adopt a balanced budget, the governing statute does not establish a penalty for adopting a budget that is not balanced. However, an unbalanced budget does trigger a statutory requirement that the board must adopt and file with the Illinois State Board of Education a deficit-reduction plan to balance the budget within three years.
Within 30 days of adopting the annual budget, the board also must file a copy with the county clerk and ISBE. These key deadlines for adoption and filing are contained in state law at 105 ILCS 5/17-1 and at 35 ILCS 200/18-50.
These dates are just a few of many deadlines set by statute. A list of such deadlines can be found in the Annual School Calendar that IASB publishes and posts online. The 2014-2015 calendar is still in effect and posted here: Annual School Calendar. A new version for the 2015-2016 school year will be published in the next few weeks.
