Budget will be shaved by $48,000.
By: Al Wicklund
JAMESBURG The Borough Council voted Wednesday to cut the Board of Education’s 2003-2004 budget by $48,000.
The council’s action reduced the portion of the school budget to be raised by local taxes to $5.888 million.
The council was required by state law to act on the budget when Jamesburg voters defeated a proposed $10.24 million budget which called for $5.936 million to be raised by local property taxes in the annual school election April 15.
Before sending the proposed budget to the voters, the board had made cuts, including the cancellation of after-school sports programs and the elimination of a librarian position shared by the Grace M. Breckwedel and John F. Kennedy schools.
Don Peterson, president of the Board of Education, said Thursday the board was scheduled to decide in what areas it would reduce $48,000 in spending at Thursday’s board meeting, held after The Cranbury Press’ late-afternoon deadline. He said he would not know until the board meets how the budget cut will be handled.
Mr. Peterson said he appreciated the cooperative attitude of council and board members during discussions of the budget since the April election.
Mayor Tony LaMantia said at Wednesday’s council meeting the board indicated during their discussions that the cut will not affect the school district’s classroom-instruction programs.
The council’s $48,000 budget decrease represents a 2-cent reduction in the school tax rate increase. It held the increase in the rate at 41 cents per $100 in valuation instead of the 43-cent increase the defeated budget would have caused.
With the 2-cent decrease, the tax rate for school purposes will be $2.62 per $100. At this rate, the owner of a house assessed at the borough average of $123,000 will pay $3,222 in school taxes, an increase of $504 for the school year, starting July 1.
Mayor LaMantia said he and the council went through the same detailed examination of the school budget that they did last year when they cut some $32,000 after that budget had been voted down.
"We went through the proposed school budget from front to back. We met with state school finance people. We could find no room for change," he said.
Council President Joe Jennings said the Board of Education did a good job with its budget.
"It’s unfortunate the board doesn’t get the state funding it deserves," Mr. Jennings said.
The Jamesburg School District will receive $3.55 million in state aid for the 2003-2004 school year, but is being hit hard by out-of-district tuition costs. The costs for tuition for special education students and students who attend Monroe Township High School is expected to increase from $347 million this year to $4.09 million in 2003-2004.

