Millstone committee could suggest use of surplus to offset tax impact
By: Frank C. D’Amico
MILLSTONE — Superintendent William Setaro recently told the Township Committee he can’t cut anything from this year’s defeated school budget — but the issue for now will remain in the hands of the governing body.
The committee met May 3 with Dr. Setaro, school district Business Administrator Brian Boyle and school board members to discuss the $17.3 million budget, which was defeated April 18 by township voters, 294-283.
No action was taken last week. When a school budget fails, the governing body has to examine it. The Township Committee could cut the budget, leave it unchanged or add to it. The deadline for a decision is May 19.
“We understand the school board and the district’s needs and yet we have to realize the public defeated the budget,” said Committeeman Bill Kastning, who also serves as liaison to the school board.
The defeated school budget called for an 8.6 percent increase in the school tax rate. The tax rate for 2000-01 had been set at $1.76 per $100 of assessed valuation, a 14-cent increase over the current school year’s rate.
“This was the best budget we could put together this year without hurting the children,” Dr. Setaro said at the meeting.
In order to reduce the tax rate, money would have to taken from the school district’s surplus rather than cutting programs, Dr. Setaro said. The school district has $674,000 in surplus.
Taking money from surplus is “like taking money from your savings account,” Dr. Setaro said. The money has to be replaced the next year or the school district will deplete its surplus. leaving fewer dollars to cover unexpected expenses.
“If any unexpected expenditures come up — like the school’s roof blows off — we would pay for it from surplus,” Dr. Setaro said.
He told the committee the budget and tax rate rose this year because of several fixed costs.
“We had more students this year and thus more tuition to pay to Allentown High School,” he said.
Dr. Setaro said there were 490 students in the Millstone district in 1990 and now that number is around 1,600. Millstone pays approximately $10,100 per student in tuition to Allentown High School.
“Even if the tuition rate dropped, we’d still have to pay more money each year because of enrollment growth,” Mr. Boyle said. “The rate would have to drop dramatically.”
Dr. Setaro also pointed to the additional students in the district who need special education as another cause for the budget’s increase.
“We can’t plan for children who come in with special needs that have been identified by another school district,” Dr. Setaro said. “And we have to take care of them because that is for the child’s benefit.”
In the tax rate, a penny is worth $73,000, Dr. Setaro said. The tax rate could be reduced a fraction of a penny rather than a whole or multiple pennies.
If the budget had passed, the owner of a house valued at the township average of $242,000 would have paid $4,259 in school taxes for the 2000-01 school year, a hike of $339 over the current year.
“The Board of Education actually has a more difficult job than we do,” Mayor Cory Wingerter said during the meeting. “They have a bigger and more monstrous budget and they have to deal with contract negotiations.”
No action was taken May 3 because Committeeman Bill Nurko was in Costa Rica on business. The committee and board will gather again Wednesday, May 17.
If the Board of Education and the Township Committee can’t agree on the budget issue, the matter will go to the Monmouth County Superintendent of Schools.
State Commissioner of Education David Hespe will have jurisdiction over the matter if it isn’t resolved at the county level.