New D46 Finance Officer Gets Down To Business

Anna Kasprzyk, ’s newest business manager, made her public debut this week's board meeting to present the proposed 2011 tax levy.

Kasprzyk, who had worked three years for the district as a finance coordinator at a salary of $55,000 per year, was hired last month by a 4-3 vote. Board members Michael Carbone, Kip Evans and Shannon Smigielski voted against the hiring. Carbone said he had no comment about his “no” vote, and Evans and Smigielski could not be reached for comment.

Kasprzyk’s new salary is $96,000 per year.

Superintendent Ellen Correll told Patch, “Given the fact that Anna has worked with the district for three years, she brings history and consistency to the position. We don't have to start at square one.”

Kasprzyk is the district’s fifth chief financial business officer in three years.

After Brad Goldstein resigned to take another position, he was replaced by Edward Towle in April 2010. Towle was fired a month later after it was discovered he failed to disclose he was on administrative leave from his former position with the Deer Brown school district in Milwaukee. Towle since has filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against .

District 46 then hired David Tylavsky. After eight months on the job, he resigned in March 2011 for unknown reasons, though district officials have alluded to a lack of experience.

Todd Covault, who was hired in July to replace Tylavsky, resigned after about two months to accept a similar position in another district. Retired business manager Victor Berner then stepped in to serve as interim business manager after his departure.

Levy Proposed

On Wednesday, Kasprzyk got down to business by presenting the proposed tax levy for 2011.

Kasprzyk suggested the district levy $31.9 million, an increase of $1.4 million or 4.64 percent over 2010. The reason for the increase, said Kasprzyk, is that expenditures are rising across the board, and state and federal revenues are decreasing or being eliminated. For example, Kasprzyk said the district’s general state aid is expected to drop 5 percent in fiscal 2012.

The district’s finance committee will review the proposed 2011 levy at its Nov. 9 meeting. The final levy will be presented to the board for approval on Dec. 16.

Audit

In other business, auditor Shelley Casella-Dercole from the McHenry firm Eder, Casella and Co., presented the district’s 2011 audit.

received an overall score of 3.25 out of 4, placing it in the Illinois State Board of Education’s “Review” category. The highest category is “Recognition,” followed by “Review,” “Warning” and the lowest, “Watch.”

Last year, received a higher score of 3.7 points out of 4.

One of the biggest issues that Casella-Dercole pointed out was the number of activity funds carrying a negative balance — there were 21 as of June 30. These funds should be reviewed and closed if there is no activity, she said. Correll stated the district already had begun that correction process.

The audit also revealed that needed more internal control documentation, particularly a policy and procedures manual. Casella-Dercole also suggested the district review its system for preparing checks, because the person who prepares them is not always the person who signs them. Correll said the district now has a password-protected process to correct this.