School and municipal officials are getting ready to review defeated school budgets.
By: Eve Collins
MANSFIELD School officials in Northern Burlington and Mansfield say they understand why this year’s school budgets were defeated last week, but they don’t know what, if anything, can be trimmed from the plans.
Northern Burlington proposed a spending plan that called for a 14.7 percent tax increase for property owners in the four sending districts.
The regional school district serves students from Chesterfield, Mansfield, North Hanover and Springfield townships. All but North Hanover defeated the budget. The regional school board proposed a $27.9 million budget this year, a $3.3 million increase from last year.
"More than half the districts in Burlington County came out and voted no," said Dr. James Sarruda, superintendent of the Northern Burlington Regional School District.
A state-mandated formula determines the share from each sending district’s tax rates, based on the community’s ability to pay and the population of students in that community, said Dr. Sarruda.
In neighboring Mansfield, where the elementary school budget also was defeated, there was no proposed increase in the school tax rate. School district officials proposed a $7 million spending plan.
The tax rate would have been $1.21 for every $100 of assessed property value. Under that rate, the owner of a home at the township average of $157,000 will continue to pay $1,900 this year.
No tax increase was anticipated because of a $74 million increase in ratables in the township this year, which generated an additional $800,000 in revenue, said Mansfield Superintendent Joseph Bruni.
In Northern Burlington, Chesterfield residents would have seen their tax rate rise 15 cents to $1.16 of every $100 of assessed property value. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $207,000 would have paid $2,401, an increase of $310. The budget received 178 yes votes and 232 no votes.
For property owners in Mansfield, the school tax rate would have risen 14 cents to $1.01 for every $100 of assessed property value. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $157,000 would have paid $1,586, an increase of $220. The budget received 397 yes votes and 689 no votes from Mansfield residents.
Property owners in North Hanover would have seen a school tax-rate increase of 10.5 cents to 95 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $150,000 would have paid $1,425, an increase of $158. The budget received 160 yes votes and 119 no votes from township residents.
Springfield residents would have seen their school tax rate rise 19 cents to $1.26 for every $100 of assessed property value. Under that rate, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $150,000 would have paid $1,890, an increase of $285. The budget received 155 yes votes and 250 no votes from Springfield residents.
Springfield Councilman Peter Sobotka, who attended the introduction of the regional school district budget, predicted then that the measure would be voted down.
"The average taxpayer cannot believe the amount of tax increases they’ve seen," he said.
"I can’t say I don’t understand them voting it down," Dr. Sarruda said. "But there’s not much we can do about taxes going up."
The regional school board and representatives from the four sending districts will have a joint meeting April 30 at the high school at 7:30 p.m., Mr. Sobotka said.
"There have to be areas that can be reduced," Mr. Sobotka said. "But we are also looking for ways to increase revenues."
Mr. Bruni said one of the frustrations for the district is not getting enough aid from the state. The district is being funded for the 370 students who attended Mansfield in the 2001-2002 school year, not for the 610 students currently enrolled, he said. The total aid from the state this year was $655,328, an increase of $53,000.
"I don’t think anybody is against schools or education," said Mr. Bruni. "I think they’re against what’s happening at the state level."
Dr. Sarruda agreed. He said the budget’s defeat wasn’t a reflection on the regional school board’s spending plan, but a response to the district’s loss of state aid and dependence on taxpayers to get those funds back.
Ernie DuBay, a resident at the Homestead Retirement Community in Mansfield and a former elementary school principal for the Woodbridge school system, said most voters in the township are seniors on a fixed incomes who can’t afford to pay high taxes.
"I think people just look at the taxes," he said. "But we’re not against education."
Both administrators speculated on what happened at the polls this year. Dr. Sarruda said more parents of school-age children need to cast their votes.
"Our public hearing (on the budget) was very positive," he said. "But I don’t believe we got the parent turnout we hoped for."
Mr. Bruni said there may have been some confusion among residents on what they actually were voting on. Residents were voting on the regular operating budget this year which did not raise the tax rate. However, the debt service tax levy, which voters approved at referendums in 2000 and 2001, went up 2.5 cents.
Dr. Sarruda said the next step is to meet with representatives of the governing bodies of the four sending districts, and hear their recommendations for the budget. The district has already sent copies of the budget for their review.
"I don’t know what they’re going to recommend," he said. "I think it’s a tremendous challenge for our town councils."
Mansfield Mayor Art Puglia said that township officials would be reviewing both the regional and local school budgets. He said he hoped to see a $500,000 reduction in the regional budget.
As for the Mansfield School District budget, Mayor Puglia said he was surprised that it did not pass, but hoped to see a reduction in the local budget "to show the people some good faith."
Mr. Bruni was to meet with Mansfield officials Wednesday, after the Register-News’ late-afternoon deadline.
"(This school board) doesn’t make budgets with a lot of fluff in them," Mr. Bruni said. "Ninety-nine percent of what we do is mandated, but we have rising costs in every area. Everything is expensive."
Both districts are opening additional schools and need money to run them, administrators said.
"The communities approved referendums for the new schools. Now we need to heat them, open them, supply people to run them," Dr. Sarruda said.
For school board members, the budget development process starts in fall, the administrators said. The school board members are active year-round deciding what the needs and priorities for the districts are.
"It’s a lot of work," Mr. Bruni said. "I don’t think people realize how budgets are developed."
Both administrators attributed this year’s problems to reductions in state aid.
"The problem comes in February, when we hear that we’re losing the state aid," Dr. Sarruda said. "Then we work really hard for the next few weeks on cutting our proposed budget."
The regional school board cut about $1.4 million this year, including teaching and staff positions, to stay under the spending cap. The district wouldn’t have seen a tax increase at all if it had received enough state aid, he said.
Dr. Sarruda said funding from the state have remained the same, about $10.8 million, even though the district has gained 368 students over the past three years and will increase again next year. He estimates that the district should have gotten $2.6 million more in aid over the past two school years.
"We just kept cutting (the budget), then realized we couldn’t go much further," Dr. Sarruda said. "These programs are critical to the kids. We always need to keep sight of what we do here."
Mr. Bruni said this year’s state aid for Mansfield increased $53,000 to $655,328, despite an increase in student population.
Dr. Sarruda said he hopes all questions on the budget will be resolved quickly because the school board is hoping to hire teachers for several positions that cannot be filled until the budget is certified.
"These are some real good people that we’re going to lose," Dr. Sarruda said. "This is one of the consequences of a defeated budget."
The new teaching positions include special education, music, math and applied technology. The teachers are needed, Dr. Sarruda said, because class sizes are now very large, with the student population still increasing.
Mr. Bruni said his district was dealing with the same concerns.
As for the students, Dr. Sarruda said the high school students have been following the progression of the election in their social studies classes and were disappointed by the outcome.
"It’s hard for them to hear that their community is not supporting the school budget," he said.

