School state aid figures down from last year

Preliminary school budget calls for 7-cent hike in tax rate

BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE Staff Writer

BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
Staff Writer

EDISON — Residents here are looking at a 7-cent hike in the school tax rate, according to the preliminary budget introduced by the Board of Education last week.

That translates into a school tax increase of $121 a year for a home assessed at the township average of $172,000, board Business Administrator Daniel Michaud said.

School officials were stymied in preparing the 2005-2006 budget because of the delay in state aid figures and less aid in general, he said.

“[State aid figures] are supposed to be available by Feb. 24,” Michaud said. “Then it was postponed to March 1. That leaves us less than a week to figure out how to borrow from Peter to pay Paul, in essence, in a way that will least burden taxpayers.

Michaud is shuffling numbers to try to make up for a shortfall in state aid to middle-income districts.

Districts are dealing with a flawed aid formula that bases funding amounts on tax ratables and distorts the real financial picture of residents, he said.

“They call it the ability to pay,” Michaud said. “We really don’t have it.”

Edison is taking a $199,757 hit in state aid this year because the district is being penalized for taking advantage of lower bond rates and for refinancing last year a higher interest bond from 2000 for a lower rate, Michaud said.

“We were hoping we were going to end up with at least as much as we got last year,” Michaud said. “We ended up with a little less. Still, the burden for the overall level aid, or shortfall to middle-income districts like ours, ends up falling on the taxpayers again. It’s a real shame.”

Last year the district received $14,710,373 in state aid, about 9.5 percent of the total $166,606,925 budget.

“We figured there would be some sort of cut, but we would have liked to have known exactly what, so we could have had some time to maximize the funds available,” Michaud said.

Last year the school tax rate rose by 11 cents for each $100 of assessed property valuation.

School officials are trying to determine what part of the preliminary budget can be cut, he said.

“There will probably be a $50,000 to $100,000 reduction,” Michaud said. “We will have to do some shuffling around, and the time constraint is no help.”

School districts got their state aid numbers March 2 following acting Gov. Richard J. Codey’s budget speech March 1.

The preliminary budgets had to be submitted to the county superintendent of schools by March 8.

“We used to get the numbers the first week in February under past administrations,” Michaud said. “Then it moved up to Feb. 24 with McGreevey, and now the Legislature unanimously passed an addendum to wait until March 1.”

The trouble with the time squeeze is that it gives school officials little time to come up with innovative budget ideas, Michaud said.

Last year the district received $14,710,373 in state aid, about 9.5 percent of the total $166,606,925 budget.

The current school tax rate is $2 per $100 of assessed property valuation.

It’s difficult to keep pace with state mandates on education standards when aid money is cut, Michaud said.

“If you look at Abbott districts [or poorer ones by fiscal standards], some get 50 to 70 percent and even 90 percent aid,” he said. “We have 9 percent. We don’t feel Edison gets its fair share.”