Spending plan includes an increase of $713,929 in tuition paid to Monroe to send Jamesburg students to Monroe Township High School.
By: Nick D’Amore
JAMESBURG Residents will go to the polls Tuesday to vote on a $9.5 million school budget that, if approved, will raise school taxes by 21 percent.
The polls will be open from 3 to 9 p.m. at Borough Hall.
Driving the 2002-2003 budget is an increase of $713,929 in tuition paid to Monroe to send Jamesburg high school students to Monroe Township High School. The district also is facing increases in costs for out-of-district special education and handicapped students.
If approved, the tax rate will increase 39.6 cents to $2.296 per $100 of assessed valuation. That means the owner of a house assessed at the borough average of $122,000 would then pay $2,801 in school taxes, an increase of $483.
The district is anticipating paying $3.47 million in total tuition for 2002-2003, a 26 percent increase from the 2001-2002 budget.
The cost to send Jamesburg high school students to MTHS will increase from $11,220 to $12,360 per student in 2002-2003. The district also expects to send more students to MTHS next school year. Currently, 194 borough students attend school at MTHS, a number that is expected to rise to 208 in 2002-2003.
The total tuition paid to Monroe will increase from $2.18 million to $2.57 million.
The tuition increases account for 70 percent of the total budget increase and 31 cents of the 39.6-cent tax rate increase.
Besides tuition, teacher salaries also are expected to increase 2 percent to $1.5 million in 2002-2003, in part due to the expected hiring of a new special education teacher.
The district will receive $3.5 million in state aid for 2002-2003.
The district also will spend $433,437 for debt service for previous loans, down 4.3 percent; $443,803 on operations and maintenance, up 5.8 percent; and $594,566 for transportation, an 11.6 percent increase.