Despite the financial woes of the State of Illinois, the Monticello school district budget is not in bad shape.

Dr. Vic Zimmerman, Superintendent of Monticello Schools explains they had a good year from their Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax (CPPRT) last year and because of that, this year's budget was off to a good start. Dr. Zimmerman feels next year's CPPRT payment could be even better than this year's thanks to a slow turn around in the Illinois economy.

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CPPRT makes up for almost half of Monticello Schools yearly budget. Dr. Zimmerman says despite the good years they have experienced with CPPRT the past few years, the district is still going to have to dip into their reserves to make up the difference for shortfalls from the state.

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Dr. Zimmerman says each year the district has to plan on expenses increasing, and predicting those is expenses is easy. Each year they have salaried staff that needs to be paid, they have supply expenses, and utilities that need to be paid.

The final CPPRT payment for this fiscal year should be arriving soon for Monticello schools, at which point they will be able to compare this year's amount to last year's.