Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 11-04-2026: Matt Birdsley shares Sterling Public Schools finance updates

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Talk Line 11-04-2026: Matt Birdsley shares Sterling Public Schools finance updates · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Hey there, Sog Valley, and welcome back to The Waking
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Crew here on FM 95.1 and AM 1460 WIXN. 9.15
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  Speaker 1: on your Wednesday morning, and as promised, it's time for
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  Speaker 1: Talk Line. And I'm joined in the booth for the
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  Speaker 1: first time, at least since I've taken over here. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know if you've been here before, sir, but the
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  Speaker 1: Director of Finance for Sterling Public Schools, Matt Bursley, here
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  Speaker 1: to give us the lowdown on what's going on over
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  Speaker 1: in Sterling. Sir, how are you?
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  Speaker 2: Pretty good. How are you doing today? This is my
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  Speaker 2: first time going on your show, so thanks for having us. Awesome.
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  Speaker 1: I've only been here, what, it's a year since Halloween
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  Speaker 1: that I took over for Steve Marcos. Hopefully you've been
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  Speaker 1: sleeping in, Steve. Forty-some years of getting up as early
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  Speaker 1: as this. I hope that man is sleeping in and
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  Speaker 1: enjoying it. But you've got a lot to catch us
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  Speaker 1: up on today. And starting, of course, right in your wheelhouse,
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  Speaker 1: right in the title there, we're going to start off
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  Speaker 1: with the district finances.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so a busy time of year for district finances
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  Speaker 2: as we just approved our fiscal year 27 budget last month,
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  Speaker 2: or sorry, in September. And now we're moving right into
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  Speaker 2: our next year's tax levy as we get going into
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  Speaker 2: fiscal year 28. Overall, our district budget is in a
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  Speaker 2: pretty good spot financially with unknowns still out there. But
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  Speaker 2: we're looking at a surplus in our operating funds, which
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  Speaker 2: is our education fund, our transportation fund, our operation and
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  Speaker 2: maintenance fund. So all three of those funds are in
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  Speaker 2: a good spot right now with some healthy reserves. So
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  Speaker 2: we can hopefully keep going on that route and keep
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  Speaker 2: with a balanced budget as well as a slight surplus
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  Speaker 2: as we move forward to improve our student academic programs
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  Speaker 2: and support our students in any ways that they need.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you guys always have some kind of new initiative
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  Speaker 1: going over there or something going on, whether it's a
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  Speaker 1: new facility, which we will get up to the updates
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  Speaker 1: on that. But I remember during my time reporting for
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  Speaker 1: Shaw before moving over to radio that you guys always
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  Speaker 1: did a fantastic job of planning and planning ahead, even
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  Speaker 1: though there's always a curveball when it comes to trying
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  Speaker 1: to plan financially.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. We always try to, if we have a surplus,
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  Speaker 2: save half, and that's our Board of Education's goal. So
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  Speaker 2: we don't spend down to the dollar. We try to
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  Speaker 2: put some in our savings savings. Because we don't know
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  Speaker 2: what's going to happen with state financials in the state
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  Speaker 2: of Illinois, especially a lot of our revenue is based
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  Speaker 2: on local revenue, which is property taxes. And then we
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  Speaker 2: have the bulk of our revenue comes from our state
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  Speaker 2: EBF funding, which from year to year, we don't know
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  Speaker 2: what's going to happen. Luckily, our state legislators have advocated
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  Speaker 2: for this and have funded it. So we are a
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  Speaker 2: Tier 1 district, which helps us financially, but we want
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  Speaker 2: to make sure that we're putting those additional revenues into
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  Speaker 2: our students. No new programs this year for students. We're
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  Speaker 2: trying to really refine the programs we've added over the
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  Speaker 2: last few years and really get better at what we're
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  Speaker 2: doing and seeing the results, which we have seen as
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  Speaker 2: our state announced our exemplary status, our approaching exemplary status
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  Speaker 2: with our schools, our commendable status. So we're proud of
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  Speaker 2: where we've been. We're just trying to fine-tune our programs
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  Speaker 2: to make them the best we can.
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  Speaker 1: Now, you had mentioned, and I know this was one
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  Speaker 1: of the things on our list with tax levy, for
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  Speaker 1: most people and probably me included without having to take
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  Speaker 1: the time to go search it themselves, is there kind
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  Speaker 1: of maybe a basic way to kind of explain to
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  Speaker 1: folks what that is and how that affects what you do?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so our levy is based off the equalized assessed value.
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  Speaker 2: And Over the last few years, we as a district
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  Speaker 2: have not increased our overall tax rate. We've actually decreased it,
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  Speaker 2: and we're looking to decrease it again, which if your
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  Speaker 2: equalized assessed value did not increase in your house, that
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  Speaker 2: means your property tax bill to the district would decrease.
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  Speaker 2: Unfortunately for the homeowners, a lot of our property values
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  Speaker 2: are being assessed at a higher value, which means our
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  Speaker 2: equalized assessed value is increased. You take that, equalize, assess value,
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  Speaker 2: divide it by three, and multiply it by the tax rate,
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  Speaker 2: and that's what your taxes will be for the school district.
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  Speaker 2: We're just over 4%. We've tried to decrease those as
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  Speaker 2: we can with the largest portion of our property taxes
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  Speaker 2: going into our education fund, which is what we use
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  Speaker 2: to pay our staff, our teachers and support staff, for
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  Speaker 2: salaries and benefits. So the bulk of what we levy
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  Speaker 2: for goes straight to our students in the form of
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  Speaker 2: salaries and benefits for all of our staff to make
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  Speaker 2: sure we can operate the programs that we have in
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  Speaker 2: place and keep them going. This year's estimated EAV increase
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  Speaker 2: is around 5.5% to 6%, which is going to result
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  Speaker 2: in us having a truth in taxation hearing because the
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  Speaker 2: increase in taxes is going to be greater than 5%. However,
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  Speaker 2: the district is lowering the overall tax rate once again,
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  Speaker 2: and we hope to do so in the years to come.
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  Speaker 1: I love hearing that. Again, just speaks to how soundly
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  Speaker 1: you guys take care of things over there financially. And
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  Speaker 1: I liked hearing, you know, because it almost sounds like
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  Speaker 1: the simple advice that you would give when you talked
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  Speaker 1: about your surplus and saving half back. That would always
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  Speaker 1: be kind of a general rule. You'd hear from like
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  Speaker 1: your parents, you know, hey, don't spend all your fund
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  Speaker 1: money after you're done. Save some of that back. And
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  Speaker 1: it reminded me of what my grandpa said. He said, boy,
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  Speaker 1: you want to double your money? I said, yeah. He said,
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  Speaker 1: fold it in half.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
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  Speaker 1: So, yeah, it's good planning. I love hearing that. And
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  Speaker 1: you guys are able to do some great things. Speaking
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  Speaker 1: of which, part of that is I know you said
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  Speaker 1: no new programs, which you guys have been doing some
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  Speaker 1: cool things in regards to facilities over there.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, last year was our first year of our three-year
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  Speaker 2: facility plan improvement. This really hit our finishing off our
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  Speaker 2: renovations of our buildings. Our buildings had been built in
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  Speaker 2: the 40s and 60s. Franklin Elementary School and Jefferson Elementary
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  Speaker 2: School were in the 60s and hadn't been touched. So
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  Speaker 2: they needed some updating. We put a lot of money
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  Speaker 2: into safety and security protocols, which includes a secure vestibule,
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  Speaker 2: secured entrances to our buildings. It's kind of a double
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  Speaker 2: door system that people have to go through to get
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  Speaker 2: checked into the office, as well as enhanced security cameras
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  Speaker 2: at those buildings. So all six of our buildings now
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  Speaker 2: have enhanced security protocols in place with the secured vestibules
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  Speaker 2: as well as the security cameras in place to help
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  Speaker 2: to keep that safe and security within our schools. Along
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  Speaker 2: with that, Franklin Jefferson includes some fresh painting, new lights
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  Speaker 2: to update the lights to get to the LED lights
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  Speaker 2: to save on energy costs and provide better lighting for
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  Speaker 2: our students and teachers. Some new plumbing issues as that
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  Speaker 2: comes up you know you would tear into a wall
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  Speaker 2: and you see some old pipes we have to replace
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  Speaker 2: that so refurbish the bathrooms for our students new flooring
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  Speaker 2: we are trying to get rid of all of our
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  Speaker 2: asbestos tile flooring it's it's not a hazard to anyone
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  Speaker 2: right now but it's just a matter of getting rid
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  Speaker 2: of that to put in tiles that are new won't
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  Speaker 2: crack that look good and if they do get damaged
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  Speaker 2: we can easily replace those without having to have a
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  Speaker 2: special contractor come in so Year two of that is
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  Speaker 2: going to really involve our classrooms. Our classrooms are going
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  Speaker 2: to have all the flooring taken out and put in
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  Speaker 2: with new LVT flooring, some new built-in cabinetry, as well
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  Speaker 2: as fresh paint, new lights, all the stuff that's cosmetic
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  Speaker 2: but really makes a difference to keep the climate in
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  Speaker 2: the buildings safe, secure, clean. With our geothermal system already
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  Speaker 2: in place, getting that new flooring in will really be
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  Speaker 2: nice to spruce up the classrooms. Yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And correct me if I'm wrong, athletic facility?
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  Speaker 2: Yep. There's two other major projects. One is the Sterling
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  Speaker 2: High School Student Recreation Center. That's the frame and the
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  Speaker 2: sides and the walls are going up as we speak.
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  Speaker 2: That will be a nice recreational center for our student athletes,
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  Speaker 2: our fine arts with our marching band. our PE classes
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  Speaker 2: that will have a little bit larger weight room in
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  Speaker 2: there for our students, a turf area for our indoor
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  Speaker 2: practice seasons, as well as our marching band, some additional
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  Speaker 2: basketball courts. You know, we built our high school in
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  Speaker 2: the 40s when it was just we only had boys
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  Speaker 2: sports and we had basically basketball for indoors. Now we
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  Speaker 2: have girls and boys sports. We have multiple teams of each.
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  Speaker 2: And we have the same facilities for practicing, which resulted
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  Speaker 2: in students getting out of practice at 9, 9.30 at
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  Speaker 2: night because we had stacked teams, or stacked practice times.
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  Speaker 2: So this will allow our students to all practice after
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  Speaker 2: school immediately, get home, enjoy their family time, and get
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  Speaker 2: their studies done, and keep kids home instead of keeping
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  Speaker 2: them at school until 9, 9.30. The final project has
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  Speaker 2: been the installation of solar panels for each of our buildings.
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  Speaker 2: So That comes with a cost of about $ 6 million
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  Speaker 2: that we hope we should have it pay back by
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  Speaker 2: in the next 12 years. But immediately, that's going to
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  Speaker 2: save us about $ 200, 000, $ 250, 000 a year on our electrical cost,
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  Speaker 2: which will continue for the next 30 years. We've already
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  Speaker 2: seen that savings starting to ramp up. Processing the electrical
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  Speaker 2: bill the other day, it was about a $ 15, 000 decrease
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  Speaker 2: from one month to the next now that we have
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  Speaker 2: all but one of the systems live and making energy.
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  Speaker 2: So- So it doesn't impact the inside of the buildings,
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  Speaker 2: but it's definitely helping us conserve finances that we're not
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  Speaker 2: putting towards electrical because we're saving it on the solar,
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  Speaker 2: which helps us with our operations and maintenance funds.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I might have been a C math student, but
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  Speaker 1: that math, math.
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  Speaker 2: It does. It does match. And if we can decrease
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  Speaker 2: our electrical costs by a couple hundred thousand each year
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  Speaker 2: in our operation maintenance, that allows us to any of
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  Speaker 2: that excess money we can use for our maintenance of
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  Speaker 2: our buildings. Because we have six buildings that Our brick
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  Speaker 2: buildings that need work on the outside, they need new
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  Speaker 2: roofs at times. So strategically planning for the foreseeable future
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  Speaker 2: on little things. Nothing's cheap anymore. We had to replace
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  Speaker 2: a door at the high school, and that was almost $ 20, 000
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  Speaker 2: just to replace that one door in the frame because
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  Speaker 2: the weather had deteriorated the frame. It started falling apart,
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  Speaker 2: and we have to be able to have some funds
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  Speaker 2: to be able to do that without problems. going out
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  Speaker 2: for bond or taking money from our taxpayers. So the
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  Speaker 2: more we can be strategic on our day-to-day operations, the
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  Speaker 2: better it is for our students, our teachers, our staff,
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  Speaker 2: and our community as a whole.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and just creates more opportunities for you guys to
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  Speaker 1: be able to do things that you wouldn't before because
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  Speaker 1: you're saving this money. This is a these things are
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  Speaker 1: going to end up paying for themselves. And then after that,
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  Speaker 1: it's just, hey, great, look how much money we're saving now.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. The same goes with our geothermal systems and five
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  Speaker 2: of our buildings that it was an upfront cost, but
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  Speaker 2: they've paid for themselves since. We're not paying the electrical
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  Speaker 2: costs and the gas prices, the gas costs to heat
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  Speaker 2: and cool our buildings. So that's all savings for us.
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  Speaker 2: I know upfront there's a cost, but in the long term,
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  Speaker 2: it's It's better for the environment, and ultimately it saves
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  Speaker 2: us money on our utilities, which we all love to
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  Speaker 2: save some money on our utilities these days.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, man, you are not wrong. You can come put
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  Speaker 1: some of them panels in my house. Anything else you
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  Speaker 1: wanted to share this morning, Matt, while we've got some time?
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  Speaker 2: No, we're extremely proud of our community, and we're thankful
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  Speaker 2: for the community's support, your support. Our students have some
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  Speaker 2: great opportunities ahead of them, and we're very proud of
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  Speaker 2: the programs that we have and the opportunities that we
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  Speaker 2: provide our students. And we have a phenomenal staff that's
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  Speaker 2: leading the charge, and we're very grateful for everyone. So
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  Speaker 2: continue to ask us questions and make sure that you're
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  Speaker 2: in the know. And if you have any other questions,
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  Speaker 2: feel free to reach out. But we're here to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that we share everything we have and make sure
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  Speaker 2: that we put in the best product out there.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I appreciate you coming on the show and all
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  Speaker 1: the hard work that you and everyone at Sterling Public
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  Speaker 1: Schools does to make sure that all the children in
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  Speaker 1: Sterling have the education they need and to continually find
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  Speaker 1: new ways to support them and enrich that education. I
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  Speaker 1: appreciate that and happy to have you on.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, and thanks for your support, and you have
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  Speaker 2: a great day.
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  Speaker 1: You too. You've been listening to Talk Line here on
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  Speaker 1: FM 95.1 and AM 1460 WIXN. That was Matt Birdsley,
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  Speaker 1: Director of Finance for Sterling Public Schools. He and other
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  Speaker 1: Sterling staff will be in monthly to give us the
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  Speaker 1: updates on what's going on in Sterling education.