Second question also endorsed in both municipalities.
By: Rachel Silverman
As the last polling stations closed and the vote counts trickled in, it became resoundingly clear that the members of Princeton Regional Board of Education could call election Tuesday a very successful day.
While voters in Montgomery shot down the budget and second question, their Princeton counterparts approved both the $67.1 million base budget and $1.9 million second question.
And with no challengers to face, board members Michael Mostoller in the borough and Jeffrey Spear and Walter Bliss in the township were returned to office. Mr. Mostoller polled 412 votes, Mr. Spear 998 and Mr. Bliss 1,045.
"I’m very grateful to the voters of Princeton and to the community at large," Superintendent Judy Wilson said Wednesday. "The passage of the two parts to this budget allow us to move forward in very strong ways," she said.
"They need to have every ounce of faith at this point that the dollars they approve, especially in the second question, are very specifically targeted to impact student opportunity and achievement," Ms. Wilson said.
The base budget won by a total vote of 1,253-699, carrying in Princeton Borough by a vote of 342-220 and in the township by a 911-479.
The $1.9 million second question, which allows the school system to exceed the state-mandated budget cap, won by a narrower margin of 1,085-868 in total. In the borough, voters passed this spending package by 294-272. In the township they did so by 791-596.
Though the 2005-2006 base budget represents a 7.7 percent increase over last year’s $62.3 million school spending, this year’s figure factors in a number of additional budgetary considerations. In addition to the funding caps imposed by state Senate bill S-1701, the school system also is grappling with the added cost of new building space, as the district’s $81.3 million, six-school renovation and expansion project heads to completion.
By exceeding the state budget cap, the second question represents the board’s attempt to provide services to the community that would otherwise be left out of the picture.
The second question contains $1.45 million for academic intervention and support programs, $247,200 for program enhancements and $198,000 for safety and related matters. Among the range of programs covered, the second question will pour $60,000 into AVID, a study skills and support program, $215,000 for a preschool education program and $150,000 on middle and high school field upgrades. Another two-part, $180,000 item designates two full-time "monitors" to be placed in the middle and high school, and another form of "administrative assistance" to be stationed in the high school.
The 2005-2006 budget raises the school tax rate in the borough to $1.64 per $100 of assessed value, up from $1.56 in 2004-2005, and to $1.49 per $100 of assessed value in the township, up from $1.43. The second question adds another 6 cents to the tax rate in the borough and 5.5 cents in the township.
The owner of a home assessed for tax purposes at the borough average of $349,000 will pay $5,724 in school taxes, an increase of $342 over the current year’s $5,382, which is based on an average assessment of $345,000. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $420,419 will pay $6,264 in school taxes, a $375 increase over this year’s total of $5,889, which is based on an average assessment of $411,800. With the second question, those borough and township figures increase to $5,933 and $6,495, respectively.

