Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education gives preliminary nod to $20.6 million budget.
By: Mark Moffa
UPPER FREEHOLD Allentown residents would see a 7 percent increase in school taxes, while Upper Freehold property owners would pay 4 percent more if the regional school district’s budget remains unchanged and is approved next month.
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Last week, the school board approved a preliminary budget that asks for $20.6 million for the 2002-03 school year. A budget was due to Monmouth County officials Friday.
A final budget is due to the state Wednesday. The board will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the administrative offices to pass a final budget. The spending plan currently calls for a tax increase of 14 cents per $100 of assessed property value in Allentown and 8 cents in the township.
If the budget is approved as it stands now, a house in Allentown assessed at the borough average of $150,000 woud pay $3,180 in school taxes, a jump of $111.
The owner of a house assessed at the Upper Freehold average of $210,000 would pay an additional $168, an increase from $3,906 to $4,074.
"It’s an increase that, I think, is within the realm to be expected," Superintendent Robert Connelly said.
There was little public discussion of the preliminary budget at the March 13 school board meeting. Board members met briefly in executive session before unanimously approving the proposal.
President Lynne Meara abstained from the vote, citing a conflict because she is employed by the Plumsted Township School District. Plumsted pays tuition to Upper Freehold to send high school students to Allentown High School, although Plumsted is phasing its students out of AHS.
Dr. Connelly said the district received approximately $350,000 less state aid than was hoped because state aid was frozen at 2001-02 levels. Despite the freeze, the district did manage to receive more state aid than last year, mainly because of the School Choice program.
The state’s relatively new Interdistrict Public School Choice program allows students from outside of the Upper Freehold Regional School District to take classes in the FFA agricultural-science program. This will be the third year for the program, and Upper Freehold will receive $195,293 in additional aid to cover costs for 21 new freshmen students.
Increases also were seen in special education and bilingual aid from the state. Dr. Connelly said this aid was the result of a miscalculation in aid last year.
The projected tax impact numbers for the 2002-03 budget include the tax increase already approved by voters last year when they voted to expand and renovate Allentown High School and the elementary/middle school annex building.