School budget news will
come as shock to some
It must be a shock for many area residents to read about the tax increases associated with school budgets for the 2002-03 school year.
A damaging blow was dealt to school boards and to residents when Gov. James McGreevey announced that, as one way of dealing with the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit, state aid provided to local school districts for the 2002-03 school year would be frozen at the 2001-02 level.
That is especially painful to districts that are experiencing continued increases in enrollment. As one local school superintendent summed it up, it’s like a person being told to feed more mouths at the table this year with the same amount of money he made the previous year.
Residents who read the stories about the 2002-03 school budgets will learn about proposed increases that will cost them hundreds of dollars more in property taxes. A portion of some districts’ looming tax increases is tied to construction projects that have recently been approved in order to handle the skyrocketing enrollment — other built-in increases in many budgets deal with special education, salaries and health insurance.
With few exceptions, the region is seeing school tax increases spanning from a few cents to as high as 35 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, which is being proposed in East Brunswick. This is easily the highest school tax increase proposed in the region, and furthermore, it hits taxpayers just one year after they were saddled with a 24-cent increase in school taxes.
The Old Bridge Board of Education is proposing a hefty increase itself at 19 cents. That means the owner of the average home will pay about $273 more in school taxes next year.
In Sayreville, an 8-cent increase in the school tax rate is being proposed, which is still amounting to more than $100 on average for homeowners.
Residents will get the chance to ask questions during public hearings on their districts’ budgets, and then they can cast their votes on the proposed spending plans during the April 16 school elections. It seems there has never been a more important time than this year for residents to find out exactly where their money is going and to give input and advice regarding these budgets.
School budgets that are defeated in the April 16 election will be reviewed by municipal governments for recommendations of possible cuts.