BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer
Sayreville residents will have plenty to think about when they go to the polls April 19.
The annual school election will not just involve choosing from a slate of nine school board candidates and a school budget for next year. Residents will also say yes or no to a referendum that would provide major additions and renovations at Sayreville War Memorial High School.
And both the referendum and the school budget represent increases in school taxes.
The Board of Education last Thursday approved a 2005-06 budget that totals $66.4 million and carries a 9-cent increase in the school tax rate.
Contributing to the increase in the budget is a nearly 91 percent rise in capital outlay costs, bringing capital expenses from $1,225,125 in the current year to $2,339,300 in 2005-06.
Also, the district’s operating budget will increase by $2.2 million.
The school tax rate is expected to increase 4.76 percent, from $1.98 to $2.07 per $100 of assessed valuation. For a home with the borough’s average assessment of $141,300, school taxes would rise by $133 to $2,925.
School taxes are just one portion of the property tax bill, which also includes municipal and county taxes.
According to school Business Administrator Emidio D’Andrea, salaries and health benefits were the two main causes for the budget increase, as well as various new positions in the district. Four teacher positions are being added at Sayreville War Memorial High School, and the district would also get four new resource teachers, two new special education teachers and a new school nurse. Also, a new research and testing coordinator is planned within the administration.
The capital improvement budget would include high school classroom trailers, new handicap-accessible bathrooms at several district schools, as well as floor replacements, new lockers and security cameras, D’Andrea said.
This proposed budget, which will be further discussed at a public hearing March 22 at the high school, will be voted on at the same time as a $45 million referendum for renovations and additions to the high school, which school officials have stated is both overcrowded and in serious need of repair.
Despite voters going out to vote on two items that could potentially raise their taxes, interim Superintendent of Schools Frank Alfano said he believes the people will make the right choice.
“I would think [people will react] positively,” he said. “We’ve been running an efficient budget for years and still are.”
He noted that other similar school districts are also seeing similar rises in school taxes this year, as state aid is remaining stable while costs for education continue to increase.
Sayreville’s state aid will remain at $15.5 million, so to make up for the rising costs, the tax levy will go up nearly 7 percent, to $44.8 million.
“Obviously, it’s imperative we pass this budget,” Alfano said. “We’ve been under-spending for years. It’s a very tight budget and I think it’s a very fair budget.”
Board President Al Cox said the tax levies for school years after 2005-06 have the potential to be even higher.
“I think the way budgets are going to be prepared and proposed to voters is going to be more restrictive, and we’re going to have to provide more with less,” he said.
Cox pointed to the state’s controversial S-1701 law, which went into effect last summer and imposes strict limits on school district spending increases and budget surpluses, as the reason for the possibility of higher future budgets.
“Next year, in my opinion, the increases are going to be huge, not just in Sayreville but in all districts, because of S-1701,” Cox added.
Despite the fact that residents are going to be asked to vote on two major expenditures in April, Cox said he hopes the community will make the right decision.
“I hope [voters] take the time to look at [the budget], look at what’s in it and what it’s going to provide for the kids, and vote in favor of it,” he said.
Currently, Sayreville is expected to receive approximately $13.9 million in state aid for the high school project. Officials have often stated, however, should the $45 million referendum be voted down, either in April or later in the year if it is brought out for a second attempt, that amount of state aid might no longer be available.
“Our understanding is, that money won’t be there in 2006,” Cox said. “The way [the state’s] budget is going, it probably won’t be.”
He added that regardless of the outcome on April 19, the school will still have to be renovated and expanded, even if the state has to eventually mandate the work. If the referendum is voted down three times, the state would bring in its own contractor to perform the construction, with the total cost falling in the laps of borough taxpayers.
Asked whether they have regrets about placing the referendum vote on the same day as the budget vote, officials said they are remaining optimistic about the outcome of both.
“I don’t know if it will be any more or less difficult,” Alfano said. “Only time will tell.”