use ratables to offset growth
Residents, officials say community should
use ratables to offset growth
By Jane meggitt
Staff Writer
With double-digit tax increases proposed for both Allentown and Upper Freehold in the Upper Freehold Regional School District (UFRSD) 2003-04 budget, some residents came out to ask if the district really needed to reach so deep into the community’s pocket.
"Where does it stop?" asked Upper Freehold resident Leonard Panzica. He spoke at last week’s public hearing on the school budget.
The budget includes a tax increase of 14 cents for Allentown and 13 cents for residents of Upper Freehold.
In Allentown, homeowners pay $2.26 per $100 of assessed property value. Based on the budget, borough residents with a home assessed at $150,000 will pay another $210 per year in school taxes.
Upper Freehold residents can expect an increase of 13 cents, which will bring the tax rate to $2.06 per $100 of assessed property value. A resident with a home assessed at $240,000 would pay an additional $312 this year.
Panzica pointed out that the township needs more ratables, which would take some of the burden off the taxpayer.
"Upper Freehold is limited in land, with Green Acres and Farmland Preservation [properties]. We love our children, but it has got to stop somewhere," he said.
Panzica also pointed to the precedent of Proposition 13 in California, enacted many years ago, which froze property taxes.
UFRSD Superintendent Robert Connelly said, "We’re part of a middle-income school district. There’s a huge shift in aid for middle-income districts" with increasing reliance on property taxes.
He noted that Board of Education members and school officials were well aware of the situation since "all of us pay taxes, too. Relying on property taxes is a shift that we don’t want — it affects people on fixed incomes."
According to Connelly, the increases called for in this year’s budget were "significantly below increases in neighboring districts."
Board President Lynne Meara said that a district with stable growth is not as easily affected by current methods of school funding, but it is a different story for growing school districts such as Upper Freehold.
Spending is "driven by the amount of children," she said.
Panzica replied, "There is limited space in land, limited ratables. Someone should be creative so the public won’t have to pay."
Board member Betty Jane Pepe said, "We have no ratables. Every time we try to get a ratable, citizens say, ‘We don’t want this in our neighborhood.’ We can’t win."
Board member Jeannette Bressi said that nearby communities such as West Windsor and Washington Township have greater ratables, and higher tax rates.
Upper Freehold resident Joe Mauer wanted to know the basis of the district’s enrollment growth projections.
Connelly said that the projections were based on the results of a demographic study conducted by T&M Associates, the demographer for the district.
Mauer asked if future growth projections took the proposed N.J. Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Blueprint for Intelligent Growth (BIG) map into consideration.
Connelly said that the numbers took into account housing which had already been approved by local planning boards, and admitted that zoning changes would impact future numbers.
Mauer also wanted more information about a planned primary school for the district, noting that "the planning could change if the BIG map is implemented."
Connelly said that the district has experienced substantial growth over the past three years and the trend is expected to continue for the next five years.
He said the largest classes will be kindergarten through second grade, and Allentown High School will see many new students.
The elementary school currently has 1,007 pupils, and is expected to house approximately 1,100 next year. In the mid-1990s, there were only 650 students.
Connelly said that the way the elementary and middle schools are structured, "We’re really running two schools as one school."
According to Connelly, the increase in the number of high school students in Upper Freehold and Millstone will make up for the loss of students from Plumsted, which now has its own high school.
This year’s budget advances a five-year strategic plan developed by approximately 50 community residents.
Officials noted that state aid to the district has been frozen for the past three years, with core curriculum aid at $2,189,520, transportation aid at $376,700, special education aid at $762,563, and bilingual aid at $9,290.
There has been a shift in school revenue from state aid to local tax levies, officials said.
The tax levy, at $11,656,969, now makes up 54 percent of the school budget; state aid makes up 19 percent, and tuition from Millstone students, 27 percent.
The total general fund budget is $21,546,308.
Allentown’s percentage of the tax levy is 18.04, and Upper Freehold’s is 81.96. Improvements in this year’s budget for the elementary/middle school include the hiring of five teachers for grades 3-6, a vice-principal, a guidance counselor, an aide for the annex, half-time positions for a music, speech, and basic skills teacher, and the establishment of a reading/language arts program.
The high school will have an additional English, social studies, world languages and physical education teachers, and a half-time teacher in the agricultural department. Junior varsity lacrosse will be introduced.
For the district, there will be two replacement buses, a maintenance truck, a field utility vehicle, a water wheel to irrigate the new athletic fields, a night custodial supervisor, a technology lease for a wireless lab, and part-time summer workers.
The district received interest of $100,000, which will go toward debt service.
Connelly observed that the district has kept less than 1 percent surplus, and that "the [tax] levy is very close to what is expended."