BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer
LAKEWOOD — The Board of Education adopted a $99,483,630 budget for the 2005-06 school year at its March 23 meeting.
Board President Abraham Ostreicher and board members Meir Grunhut, Irene Miccio, Meir Neumann, Simcha Shain, Bruce Stern and Leonard Thomas voted to adopt the budget. Vice President Norman Bellinger was not present and board member Chet Galdo left prior to the vote due to a family emergency.
Residents will vote on the budget in the April 19 school election.
The 2004-05 budget totals $95,539,360.
The local tax levy for the 2005-06 school year would be $56,551,582, an increase of $4,733,527 over the current school year.
The general fund would increase by 5.8 percent, rising from $68,633,714 in 2004-05 to $72,615,504 in 2005-06.
A budget packet distributed at the meeting indicated that over a period of nine school years, from 1997-98 to 2005-06, the district’s general fund budget has risen from $40.5 million to $72.6 million, yet the Comprehensive Education Improvement and Financing Act of 1996 (CEIFA) funding formula has remained essentially the same for the Lakewood school district. The general fund total aid in 1997-98 was $20.2 million and the amount in 2005-06 will be $20.9 million.
The district’s debt service payment will decrease from $1.45 million in 2004-05 to $1.41 million in 2005-06. However, since state aid will remain the same in the coming school year, debt service aid will drop by $3,812 from $113,205 to $109,393.
In another chart included with the budget packet, local taxes since the 1993-94 school year up to the 2005-06 budget were compared with the amount of state aid paid to the district and miscellaneous revenue used to augment the total general fund.
Local taxes in 1993-94 were $21.2 million or 49 percent of the $42.9 million total general fund, while state aid accounted for $18.9 million or 44 percent and miscellaneous revenue of $2.8 million added 7 percent. By 2005-06, according to the chart, taxpayers will be footing 79 percent of the general fund total at $56.5 million, while the state will contribute $15 million or 20 percent of the budget. Miscellaneous revenue will contribute $1 million or 1 percent of the general fund total of $72.6 million.
The state funding formula changed in 1997-98, according to the chart.
“It’s amazing how much the board has asked taxpayers to fund” the district’s budget, said school board attorney Michael Inzelbuch.
A grant of $1 million awarded the district last year by the state was not included in the 2005-06 budget since it was a one-time donation and not part of the funding formula, according to Inzelbuch. The grant was made by the state in recognition of the fact that most Lakewood children who receive
transportation to school do not attend public school. Inzelbuch said three times as many students attend private school as public school. The imbalance in distribution has reduced state aid, even while most students still receive transportation to class.
Inzelbuch said he did not anticipate any surplus funds being included in 2005-06 budget.
According to Miccio, Ocean County Superintendent of Schools Bruce Greenfield approved the board’s use of surplus funds as payment for the unapproved purchase of books from Harcourt Brace in December 2004 and reimbursement of pension payments to the state.
The district failed to file the Teachers Pension and Annuity System Payments report for 2002-03 and 2003-04. As a result, the district was obligated to reimburse the state for $774,157. Business Administrator Kathryn Fuoto attributed the error to a payroll clerk at the March 7 board meeting.
The 2005-06 budget was largely crafted by former interim superintendent of schools Ann Murphy Garcia, who began working for the district on Dec. 1 and announced her resignation on Feb. 10. She remained on as a consultant to help develop the budget for the coming school year.
If voters approve the budget that was adopted by the board, property taxes will rise 8.4 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at $150,000 would pay $126 more in school taxes in 2005-06 than in 2004-05; $168 more for a home assessed at $200,000; $252 more for a home assessed at $300,000; and $294 more for a home assessed at $350,000.
Lakewood is scheduled to complete a property revaluation by November. According to Fuoto, who responded to a question from a resident, any reassessments resulting from the revaluation would not affect the amount of school taxes paid by property owners.
Before board members took a vote, Thomas asked how much money in the transportation line item was allotted for school trips in 2004-05.
Inzelbuch said field trips were being funded at the same amount of $75,000 in 2005-06 and that additional grant money under the No Child Left Behind Act was also being used.
Thomas said he thought the amount of money that went to bilingual education needed to be increased instead of held at the same amount as the previous year. He also stressed the need for funding an additional attendance officer. According to the district’s handout, there is a 90 percent class attendance rate.
Miccio said all of the issues raised by Thomas had been brought up in the past. She said she supported less funding for sports and a line item transfer to fund payment for an additional attendance officer and more class trips.
Inzelbuch said the district needed a truancy department in order to address the 10 percent of students who did not attend class without a valid excuse. He suggested that the department be restructured after a budget is passed.
After the board approved adoption of the budget, Inzelbuch told Thomas, who is running for re-election, “You’re getting good; I hope you’ll be here” after the election.