Vote on $37.7M school budget set in Holmdel
By maura dowgin
Staff Writer
HOLMDEL — Three open Board of Education seats and the fate of a 7.9-cent school budget tax increase will be decided by voters April 15.
The $37.7 million budget, if approved by voters, would raise the tax rate by 7.9 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation. The public will be voting on a tax levy not to exceed $34,408,161.
The budget reflects a $237 tax increase on a home assessed at $300,000.
"We think the increase is reasonable given the fact that there has been no increase in state aid and the population of the students has gone up," said Dominic Carrea, school business administrator.
"The budget keeps going up every year. The state aid stays the same," Carrea said.
The budget does not include any new teaching or staff positions for 2003-04.
"The new positions that were in the budget had to be cut [for financial reasons]," Carrea said. "The board tried not to cut positions, but their hands were tied."
A number of fixed costs, including health insurance premiums, could not be reduced in the 2003-04 budget, he said. As a result, about half of the tax increase, or 3 cents, can be attributed to the fixed costs in the budget.
"The combined effect of the insurance increase was $630,000 from this year to next year, which is by itself three tax points [or three cents on the tax rate]," Carrea said.
The cost of the benefits goes up each year, and the board budgeted extra money for expected rate increases in January 2004, Carrea said.
Staff salary and benefit increases resulting from the board’s contract settlement with the Holmdel Township Education Association in November 2002 have contributed to the tax hike, Carrea said.
The board is also state mandated to replace seven 54-passenger school buses and a 16-passenger van by September, he said. A portion of the money for the buses and van will come out of the 2003-04 budget, he said, noting that the board will pay for the buses over the next five years at a cost of $90,000.
Last year’s budget raised the tax rate by 6.9 cents to support a $35 million budget. Last year’s increase would cost the owner of a $300,000 home an additional $206.
Voters will also decide who will fill the three open seats on the Board of Education on April 15.
Four candidates, including two incumbents, are vying for the three three-year board seats. Incumbents Susan Howard, board president, and Mary Hartnett will face off against candidates Ray Tai, who ran last year, and Frank Luccarelli.
Howard, 48, 3 Beverly Drive, has been on the board for 10 years. This is the first year the former financial lender served as board president.
"My goal is to continue to provide and enhance the highly regarded academic programs provided by the Holmdel School District," Howard said.
Hartnett, 37, 2 Crimson King Drive, was appointed to the board in September, after former board member Catherine Weber resigned to take a position with the New Jersey School Boards Association.
Hartnett is a professor of education law at the Rutgers School of Law, Newark, and an attorney at Kenney, Grossman and McDonough, Red Bank, where she represents parents of children with disabilities, and school districts.
As an attorney who has worked for school boards, Hartnett said she feels she brings special expertise to the board.
Tai, 46, 7 Canyon Woods Court, ran for the board last year and said he believes he would bring some unique and useful skills to the board.
Tai has been a consultant at AT&T since he retired from Lucent, Holmdel, two years ago, he said.
Tai wants to keep taxes stable and ensure that everyone in the community can use the school facilities, he said.
Luccarelli, 43, 21 Dearborn Drive, is running for the board for the first time. He has four girls attending district schools, he said.
Luccarelli’s goal is to "help all the kids in the school district," from the overachievers to special education students, he said.
"I don’t have a hidden agenda or any one issue," Luccarelli said.
Richard Misiura, board vice president, opted not to run for re-election.
He did not return a phone call to explain why he is not running again.