Getting help for budget

Borough, state to discuss possible school plan cuts.

By: Rebecca Tokarz
JAMESBURG — Borough officials will meet today (Friday) with the state Department of Education for some advice on what to do with the school district’s budget, which was defeated by voters April 15.
   Mayor Tony LaMantia and members of the Borough Council will meet with the state deputy commissioner of education, and representatives of the governor’s office and the special education division of the DOE to discuss the district’s special education programs and spending in anticipation of a council review of the budget.
   In addition, Councilman John Longo Jr. said Wednesday that he will seek additional funding for the district by reviewing "state statutes." The process is not unfamiliar to Mr. Longo, who is director of buildings, grounds and transportation for the South Brunswick Board of Education.
   "We’ll have to do a little bit of research and I’ll be happy to do it," Mr. Longo said.
   The council has until May 19 to review a $10.24 million 2003-2004 spending plan that was defeated by voters 267 to 128.
   Had the budget passed, residents would have faced a 43-cent school tax rate hike, raising the tax rate to $2.64 per $100 of assessed valuation. Under that rate, the owner of a house assessed at the borough average of $123,000 would have paid $3,247 in school taxes, an increase of $529. If the budget had been approved, the school tax rate would have risen 75 cents in the last two years.
   The district expects $3,551,623 in state aid for next year, including $619,687 for special education aid.
   Even with the increase, the budget called for the cancellation of after-school sports programs and the elimination of a librarian position currently shared by Grace M. Breckwedel and John F. Kennedy schools. The librarian would take over a classroom teaching position come next year, school officials said.
   Much of the increase in spending comes from an anticipated $619,808 increase in spending for out-of-district placement for special education students and tuition for high school students attending Monroe Township High School.
   In October, the district faced a $228,000 budget shortfall that forced it to lay off eight staff members, including four teachers, a vice principal, a custodian and a secretary, to handle increases in health costs and cover unexpected costs related to sending eight additional special education students to out-of-district schools.
   Anticipated rises in health-care costs for teachers also were included in the plan.
   Mayor LaMantia said the council received a copy of the school budget late last week. He said he hopes to schedule a meeting between the borough’s finance committee, Business Administrator Denise Jawidzik and members of the Board of Education next week to review the budget.
   Last year’s $9.46 million budget, which called for a 34-cent increase in the school tax rate, was defeated by voters 164-111. The Borough Council shaved 2 cents off the tax rate.
   Mayor LaMantia said the council will look at the defeated 2003-2004 budget as though it had not shaved anything from last year’s plan because it is a totally different budget.
   "We will review the budget from top to bottom. These are two different budgets. We’ll go through this year’s like we did last year," he said.
   The state can do little to help the ailing district, according to a letter Mr. Longo received from state Education Commissioner William L. Librera.
   The letter acknowledges Jamesburg’s financial troubles and said the state has worked with officials to "craft a solution to the district’s problems," according to the letter.
   With the exception of emergency aid, all state aid is determined by statute and no extra funds are available to award Jamesburg, according to the letter.
   Although that news was disheartening, Mr. Longo said he was encouraged by another sentence in the letter, which stated that "eligibility requirements for emergency aid are set in statute, and those funds are limited to natural disasters and occurrences that cannot be anticipated."
   After volunteering to perform a search for more funding, Mr. Longo said small communities cannot continue to provide funding through local property taxes at the current level they are being asked.
   "We can’t continue to subsidize education from the community level. Our community cannot afford 7, 8 or $900 tax increases," he said.
   Mr. Longo commended local legislatures for their efforts to help smaller districts and find short-term solutions to the problems, but that was not enough.
   "Everyone is affected. We have to find a long-term solution," he said.