In November, lawmakers approved the pay to the Regional Superintendents of the state, however, them getting paid is going to come at a cost to local communities.

The Regional Superintendents will be paid from various taxes from their respective districts. The Monticello district will be faced with a unique challenge, because the funding will come from a tax that makes up a large portion of their budget. Superintendent of Monticello Schools, Dr. Vic Zimmerman explains, the Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax (CPPRT) came about because of some larger businesses in Monticello that were paying a tax that was ruled as unconstitutional, so it was replaced with the CPPRT.

[audio:cpprt1.mp3]A Word From Dr. Zimmerman[/audio]

Dr. Zimmerman points out CPPRT some years at times can be up to half the schools revenues. The downfall to the CPPRT being half of the school's revenues however, is the tax rises and falls with the economic climate of the state of Illinois.

[audio:cpprt2.mp3]A Word From Dr. Zimmerman[/audio]

In fall veto session, the issue of paying the Regional Superintendents was at the forefront of several lawmakers agendas, and the ultimate decision was to use the CPPRT to use portions of Monticello's stake in the CPPRT tax to pay them. Dr. Zimmerman says with the school's budget already tight, the government reaching in and taking more certainly does not help things.

[audio:cpprt3.mp3]A Word From Dr. Zimmerman[/audio]

Dr. Zimmerman says it is estimated the district will lose about $60-thousand from CPPRT. He adds because the district is very conservative in the area of their finances, the loss will most likely not force them to lay off teachers.