Bordentown Township Committee looks to cut $400,000 from defeated Bordentown Regional School District budget.
By: Eve Collins
BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP The Township Committee wants to cut $400,000 from the Bordentown Regional School District budget, which was defeated by voters in the April election.
The regional school board has not yet formally met with officials from the three sending districts, but both sides have begun work on the issue. Township officials discussed the defeated school budget at its committee meeting Monday.
"We sat down and reviewed the budget and came up with $400,000," Mayor Jerry Boyer said Tuesday.
The school board and members of the three governing bodies have agreed to meet on Monday to decide whether anything should be cut from the $25 million spending plan for 2004-2005. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the high school library.
By state law, a rejected budget goes before the governing body, which will decide whether to make cuts or accept it as is. Officials have a state deadline of May 19.
Voters rejected the spending plan in the April 20 election. Of the 1,122 residents of the township, city and Fieldsboro who voted, 628 voted against the budget.
Voters also rejected $132,750 for upgrades to computers, technology supplies and the annual trip to Stokes State Park for seventh-graders.
Township Committeeman George Chidley has said that he would like to see the Stokes trip reinstated because it teaches students environmental awareness and civic responsibility.
"Based on concerns I’ve heard from the community, it is something I would like them to reinstate," he said.
Township Mayor Boyer said that officials have no suggestions for major cuts to the spending plan. "We’re just going into each section and department, adding them up and comparing them to last year’s numbers."
Superintendent John Polomano said he looks forward to hearing about officials’ ideas and concepts. "I hope we can come to amicable agreement," he said. "The communities have been very positive with us and supportive."
Bordentown City and Fieldsboro officials have not yet contacted him with their ideas for the budget, he said. Those officials did not return calls seeking comment.
The defeated budget would have meant a school tax increase for all residents except those in Fieldsboro.
Residents in Bordentown Township living in a home assessed at the township average of $132,133 would have paid $99.62 more in taxes this year, for a total of $2,071. Mr. Polomano said the proposed cut would reduce that by $33.
The owner of a home assessed at the Bordentown City average of $101,361 would have paid $21.76 more in taxes this year for a total of $2,010. For city residents, the proposed cut would mean no increase this year, Mr. Polomano said.
In Fieldsboro, the owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $86,268 would have paid $46.86 less this year for a total school tax of $1,650. That number would be further reduced by about $20, Mr. Polomano said.
The 2004-2005 budget increased by 3.9 percent over the previous budget year because of increased costs for employee benefits, special education and transportation, district officials have said.
Mayor Boyer said officials realize what the board has struggled with. "We know that they have had additional enrollment and increased expenses," he said.