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Saturday, November 23, 2024

Champaign CUSD 4 holds $104.4 million in long-term debt

Elm 11

Champaign Community Unit School District 4 has $104,433,131 in debt, according to Illinois State Board of Education 2016 financial reports obtained by the Chambana Sun.

Because state law allows the district to borrow a total of $270,891,551, Champaign CUSD 4 has reached 38.5 percent of its debt capacity.

The state limits how much school districts can borrow, capping their debt at a percentage of the district's property wealth, as determined by county and township assessors.

Community unit school districts are able to borrow up to 13.8 percent of their total property value, or Equalized Assessed Value (EAV). Elementary school districts are able to borrow up to 6.9 percent of their EAV.

However, school districts exceeding these debt caps are not punished or sanctioned, as the state has no enforcement mechanism in place.

In 2015, Champaign 4, an unit school district, had an EAV of $1,962,982,256, according to ISBE.

The following table ranks debt held by Champaign County school districts.

School district
Maximum debt allowed
Current debt
Percentage used
Rantoul City SD 137
$6,714,251
$22,041,389
328.3%
St Joseph CCSD 169
$8,756,057
$8,183,710
93.5%
Fisher CUSD 1
$9,683,787
$8,818,300
91.1%
St Joseph Ogden CHSD 305
$12,941,303
$7,040,000
54.4%
Heritage CUSD 8
$11,419,746
$5,766,528
50.5%
Tolono CUSD 7
$25,652,890
$12,825,000
50%
Urbana SD 116
$83,926,049
$40,215,000
47.9%
Thomasboro CCSD 130
$1,721,165
$735,000
42.7%
Rantoul Township HSD 193
$12,208,293
$4,880,000
40%
Champaign CUSD 4
$270,891,551
$104,433,131
38.6%
Gifford CCSD 188
$3,068,473
$1,175,000
38.3%
Prairieview-Ogden CCSD 197
$5,112,677
$1,225,000
24%
Ludlow CCSD 142
$1,060,593
$69,000
6.5%

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