HOWELL — Superintendent of Schools Dr. Enid Golden said the Board of Education has taken the Township Coun-cil’s recommendation for a $700,000 cut in the 2002-03 school budget "under advisement."
In taking action on May 20, the council directed that the tax levy to support the board’s budget in the coming school year be reduced from $44 million to $43.3 million. The total budget is $82 million.
Golden said the board had 15 days to act on the council’s proposal and had the option of rejecting the recommended $700,000 cut and appealing the matter to the state commissioner of education.
"It’s going to be a tough call," she said. "The budget that was voted down by residents was already as tight as it could be."
On April 16, residents voted 1,462 to 1,138 to defeat the board’s proposed $82 million budget for 2002-03. The defeated budget would have increased the local school tax rate 10.4 cents, from $1.572 to $1.676 per $100 of assessed valuation.
The defeat placed the budget in the hands of the council, which reviewed the spending plan and made the following recommendations for cuts:
(each line shows category, amount to be cut and the council’s stated reason for recommending the cut)
• specialty teachers, $40,000, increased enrollment does not support five new teachers;
• special education teacher, $36,775, increased enrollment does not support three new teachers;
• special education aide, $20,550, increased enrollment does not warrant three new aides;
• other support services, $38,275, no substantiation given for a psychologist;
• general supplies, $100,000, based on previous year’s expense history;
• other objects, $50,000, based on previous year’s expense history;
• substitute salaries, $50,000, based on previous year’s expense history;
• retiring principals, $194,826, 25 principals and vice principals for 10 schools;
• equipment repairs, $40,000, based on previous year’s expense history;
• heat, $40,968, based on previous year’s expense history;
• employee benefits, $82,606, based on salary cuts above.
In its resolution recommending the budget cuts, the council said the school district spending plan could be reduced by this amount without negatively affecting the thorough and efficient education offered to the community’s K-8 pupils.
Howell finance director Jeffrey Filia-treault said the $700,000 cut proposed by the governing body will lower the tax rate increase from 10.4 cents to about 8.4 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
That means the owner of a home assessed at $150,000 will pay about $126 more in local school taxes next year instead of $156 more, which was the original increase projected. For the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 the increase is $168 instead of $208; and for the owner of home assessed at $300,000 the increase is $252 instead of $312.
Howell’s local school tax rate will rise from $1.572 to about $1.656 per $100 of assessed valuation.
Residents pay a separate school tax for the operation of the Freehold Regional High School District.
— Kathy Baratta