Niles School District 71Budget & Spending
Niles, Cook County, Illinois NCES 1728500
- Total revenue · FY2024
- $23.4M $23,413,000
- Students enrolled
- 641 12.7% child poverty in the district
- Revenue per pupil
- $36,526
- Local share per pupil
- $27,251 96th percentile in IL
Transparency grade C, provisional
Under reviewProvisional grade
Every district starts at a provisional C until its records have been reviewed. This is a starting point, not a finding.
If you work for this district, you can shorten the wait by sending us links to the records you already publish.
NCES F-33 · FY2024
Where the money goes
Operating and capital spending from the federal expenditure survey, rolled up by function.
Aggregate categories only: no individual payees or contracts are shown.
- Instruction
- $8.8M 32.9% of spending
- Administration
- $903K 3.4% of spending
- Per pupil
- $41,839 All functions
- Capital Outlay 48.0%
- Instruction 32.9%
- Other Support Services 3.3%
- Student Transportation 3.1%
- Operations & Maintenance 2.7%
- School Administration 2.1%
- Student Support Services 2.1%
- Business & Central Services 1.7%
- Food Services 1.5%
- General Administration 1.2%
- Instructional Staff Support 1.2%
- Other Programs 0.3%
View the numbers as a table
| Function | Amount | Per pupil | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Outlay | $12,861,000 | $20,064 | 48.0% |
| Instruction | $8,816,000 | $13,754 | 32.9% |
| Other Support Services | $874,000 | $1,363 | 3.3% |
| Student Transportation | $823,000 | $1,284 | 3.1% |
| Operations & Maintenance | $720,000 | $1,123 | 2.7% |
| School Administration | $571,000 | $891 | 2.1% |
| Student Support Services | $554,000 | $864 | 2.1% |
| Business & Central Services | $469,000 | $732 | 1.7% |
| Food Services | $413,000 | $644 | 1.5% |
| General Administration | $332,000 | $518 | 1.2% |
| Instructional Staff Support | $316,000 | $493 | 1.2% |
| Other Programs | $70,000 | $109 | 0.3% |
| Total | $26,819,000 | $41,839 | 100% |
NCES F-33 · FY2005–FY2024
How this has changed
Summary Four points on FY2020 to FY2024
- Operating balance and scale In FY2024 the district reported $23.4M in revenue against $14.0M in current operating spending. It took in $9.5M more than it spent on operations, a margin of 40.4% of revenue. A further $12.9M went to capital outlay, 46.3% of total spending, which is typically financed by borrowing rather than out of revenue. This compares revenue with operating cost only; it is not a fund balance and not an audited result.
- Inflation and real growth Consumer prices rose +21.2% between FY2020 and FY2024. Revenue rose +57.3% and operating spending +4.6% in nominal terms. Revenue outgrew inflation, gaining +29.8% in purchasing power. Operating spending trailed inflation, losing +13.7% in purchasing power.
- Enrollment and per-pupil cost Enrollment fell by 1 students, -0.2%. Operating spending per student went from $20,783 to $21,775, +4.8% nominal and -13.6% after inflation.
- Structural takeaway Revenue grew faster than operating spending, by 52.7 percentage points over the period, and real cost per student fell over the same window. These figures describe cost, not performance: the F-33 does not say what a district was funded to do, and this site scores what a district publishes rather than how it spends.
Generated from the figures in the table below, not written by hand and not written by a model. Change the years and it recalculates.
| Measure | FY2020 | FY2024 | Change | Nominal % | Real % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $14,880,000 | $23,413,000 | +$8,533,000 | +57.3% | +29.8% |
| Total expenditure | $14,550,000 | $27,806,000 | +$13,256,000 | +91.1% | +57.7% |
| Revenue per pupil | $23,178 | $36,526 | +$13,348 | +57.6% | +30.0% |
| Students enrolled | 642 | 641 | -1 | -0.2% | — |
Percent change from each measure's FY2020 level. Dollar figures are nominal as filed; the real column removes inflation using CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, annual average (BLS). The dashed line is that same inflation curve, so a dollar line above it gained purchasing power and one below it lost. It does not apply to enrollment. Hover any point for the underlying number.
Test scores for this district run FY2009 to FY2020, which is outside the window above. See proficiency over that period. The federal collection has no usable FY2019 and nothing published after FY2020.
100-point rubric
What Niles School District 71 needs for an A
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Public check register
14 ptsEvery disbursement published with payee category, date, amount, and fund, updated at least quarterly.
A check register records where money actually went, rather than where it was budgeted to go.
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Annual financial audit
6 ptsA current Annual Comprehensive Financial Report with the independent auditor opinion attached.
A financial audit confirms the statements are accurately presented. Most states require one, so it is a floor rather than a distinction.
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Performance or efficiency audit
5 ptsAn independent review of whether spending achieved its stated purpose, published within the last three years.
A financial audit asks whether the numbers are right. A performance audit asks whether the money did what it was meant to do, which is the question a taxpayer is usually asking.
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Line-item adopted budget
11 ptsThe adopted budget broken out by function and object code, not a summary presentation.
Function and object detail is what allows classroom and central office spending to be compared.
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Purchasing card transactions
9 ptsPurchasing and credit card transaction detail with merchant category, date, and amount.
Card purchases sit outside the standard purchase-order process, so separate disclosure is what makes them reviewable.
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Payment history by category
9 ptsCumulative payments grouped by spending category, covering at least one full fiscal year.
Category totals show concentration and recurring commitments that individual payments do not.
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Machine-readable data
9 ptsFinancial data offered as CSV, XLSX, JSON, or an open API rather than scanned images.
A scanned PDF is technically public and practically difficult to analyse. Open formats make review possible.
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Compensation schedule
7 ptsCurrent salary schedules and aggregate administrator compensation bands, including stipends.
Payroll is the largest line in most district budgets, so schedule-level disclosure covers the bulk of spending.
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Bond and capital disclosure
7 ptsBond program spending reported against the specific projects voters approved, with remaining balances.
Bond funds are borrowed against future taxes and authorised for a named project list, so reporting against that list closes the loop.
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Board minutes and agendas
7 ptsMinutes and agenda packets posted together with the financial exhibits that were voted on.
The vote and its attachment are what connect a decision to the money it moved.
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Contracts posted
6 ptsExecuted contracts and amendments above the district bid threshold, posted in full.
A payment shows the amount. The contract shows what was promised in return.
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Direct download, no request
6 ptsCore financial records download directly, with no records request, login, or fee.
Publishing a record and releasing it on request are different levels of disclosure.
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Published records process
4 ptsA public records page naming the responsible officer, the statutory timeline, and any fees.
A documented process tells a requester what to expect before they file.
No items have been checked yet. These fill in as each record is located and verified.