BY MARC CAVELLA
Staff Writer
MATAWAN — The Aberdeen and Matawan municipal councils agreed to cut $500,000 from this year’s defeated school budget.
The councils approved the revised budget of $50.1 million at separate meetings May 18. The budget will now go to the school board for final approval at a school board meeting on May 24.
"We would’ve loved for the [councils] to leave the budget as it was," said Laura Venter, district school business administrator. "But we’re happy that they weren’t even more aggressive" with the cuts.
If the two councils had been unable to reach an agreement regarding the budget, it would have been sent to the state department of education for resolution.
"[The Township Council] is pleased that we were able to work with the school district and resolve this at the local level," Aberdeen Mayor David Sobel said. "We feel that this decision reflects the sentiment of the voters" who voted down the budget on April 20.
The recommended cuts will not have an impact on the quality of education in the district, Sobel added.
"We were careful not to recommend cuts that would affect the classroom or the level of education for the children," he said.
The two governing councils did not meet to discuss the budget at any time since its defeat.
"Nobody wins in the whole scheme of it," Matawan Councilwoman Debra Buragina said of the approach. "There was no discussion, no negotiation. Did it work to the benefit of the public or Matawan? Definitely not."
The new budget will reduce the proposed tax increase in both towns. Aberdeen’s school tax rate will go up to 24.4 cents — four cents less than originally proposed — for a rate of $3.20 per $100 of assessed property tax valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $112,295 now faces an additional $274 in taxes per year.
Matawan’s tax rate will increase to 24 cents, two cents less than originally proposed. This works out to a rate of $3.03 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $142,739 will face approximately $343 in new taxes.
The new budget also salvages $137,000 for improvements to the high school track and for band equipment. The district had initially proposed over $900,000 for the endeavor, but that was voted down by residents April 20.
Most of the budget cuts can be attributed to the retirement of teachers at the high end of the pay scale, Venter said. The retirements allow new teachers to be hired at lower pay rates.
In addition, the budget had no room for the elementary school’s plans for an additional librarian, guidance counselor and foreign language teacher.
"Whether [the councils] get along or not, it’s still a regional school district," Buragina said. "It doesn’t serve the public to be arguing like this."
Buragina said she is not optimistic that the problems plaguing the school district’s budget can be avoided.
"I’m positive we’re going to be in the same situation next year," she said. "No one can afford [tax increases]."
Sobel would not say whether or not the process of meeting separately will be repeated next year.
"I’m not thinking ahead to next year just yet," Sobel said. "Hopefully, we won’t have to go through this again, but we’ll go with [the process] that produces the best results."