Spending plan totals $40.7 million
Ruth Luse
A Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education budget proposal for 2000-2001 is scheduled for a public hearing and final adoption on Wednesday, March 29.
The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Central High School cafeteria. The high school is located on Pennington-Titusville Road, just west of the Hopewell Township Branch, Mercer Library.
On Feb. 28, the school board voted 9-0 in favor of a $40,712,410 tentative budget for 2000-2001. That plan now has received an OK from the Office of the Mercer County Superintendent of Schools and is ready for final board action.
The proposed spending plan is up $2,607,904, or 6.84 percent, over last year.
If this proposal is approved by the public at the April 18 school election, it would raise school taxes an estimated 2 cents, to $1.75 per $100 of assessed property value in Hopewell Borough. For a home assessed at $200,000, a 2-cent increase translates to a school tax bill $40 higher than that paid in 1999-2000.
In Hopewell Township, school taxes would go up an estimated 4 cents, to $1.60 per $100 of assessed value, bringing an annual school tax $80 over last year.
In Pennington, school taxes would to up an estimated 8 cents, to $1.88 per $100 of assessed value. That would mean $160 more than last year for the owner of a home assessed at $200,000.
The different tax increases in the school district’s three towns results from the district’s use, as required under state law, of an equalization formula that takes into account the difference between market values and assessed values of real estate.
The school district’s goal — when developing the 2000-2001 budget — was to hold any increase to a percentage equal to the district’s enrollment increase plus the rate of inflation. With enrollment up 3.8 percent this year and the national increase in the consumer price index 2.8 percent since last year, that meant the district’s goal going into the 2000-2001 budget process was an increase of 6.6 percent or less, board President Robert Prewitt said recently.
Mr. Prewitt said Feb. 28 that the budget plan includes $110,000 for two trailers that will be used as classrooms at Hopewell Elementary School, plus $20,000 for utilities for the trailers. Hopewell Elementary is about 50 students over full capacity now.
John Nemeth, school board secretary/business administrator, said the budget also includes $78,000 to pay for items mandated by the state, including $45,000 for a world language teacher who will work in the third grade of the district’s three elementary schools next year, and $33,000 for a special education nurse.
If the board approves the budget in its current form Wednesday, voters would be asked to OK the sum of $33,447,249 — the amount to be paid by local taxes for support of the budget. The amount of $3,055,826 in debt service is not subject to voter approval.
State aid would contribute $3,541,816 to the budget and federal aid, another $214,479. The budget includes a general fund surplus of $684,969 and debt surplus of $23,040.
Schools Superintendent Robert Sopko said Tuesday that “the proposed $40.7 million budget is primarily focused on instruction … Other factors affecting the budget included new unfunded state and federal mandates (such as World Languages and requirements for Special Education), employee benefit costs, contracted salary growth and the need for additional classroom space.”
According to Dr. Sopko, only 14.8 percent of the budget consists of “controllable” costs such as books, field trips , arts and enrichment programs. The remainder of the budget consists of “fixed” costs such as salaries, utilities, debt service and unfunded state and federally mandated programs.
The budget increase, said Dr. Sopko, would provide: co-curricular and athletic opportunities including grade nine girls’ soccer and Middle School boys’ lacrosse; academic lab evenings at Central High School; SAT preparation software and licensing; replacement of two vans; 20 additional staff; trailers for additional instructional space at Hopewell Elementary; upgrade of annex at Toll Gate Grammar School; and upgrade of technology infrastructure.
A total of 13.5 new teachers is included in the budget’s allotment of $19,112,794 for instructional expenses, or faculty salaries. In addition to the new world language teacher, the board plans to add two classroom teachers each for Central High School and Timberlane Middle School, three for Hopewell Elementary, and one for Toll Gate Grammar.
The tentatively approved budget is “right at the cap” set by state government, Mr. Nemeth said recently. The state budget’s cap law restricts the percentage by which a district may increase its budget over that of the previous year.
SEPARATE QUESTION — To be put to a final school board vote on March 29 is a proposed $280,000 separate ballot question. If passed by the voters, the question would cost each homeowner in Hopewell Borough and Hopewell Township an estimated $27 and $26 respectively, and each Pennington homeowner, $29, according to Mr. Nemeth.
The separate ballot question is a mechanism under which the district can be allowed to spend more than the cap law allows.
The separate question would seek $122,500 for lease-purchase of 315 replacement computers; $32,500 for security items, such as upgraded video cameras and door locks; $100,000 for a five-year maintenance program, much of it for upgrades to wiring for high-tech gear in the schools; and $25,000 for replacement of printers and file servers (this item replaces one explained in the next paragraph).
The original separate ballot question included $25,000 for lease-purchase of two full-size, 54-passenger buses and one van. (These vehicles could be used on school bus routes for which the district has had difficulty in getting service carriers and for athletic events.) This item has been placed in the base budget and is no longer part of the separate question.