BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer
The Marlboro Board of Education has introduced a $74.76 million budget for the 2006-07 school year that will raise property taxes for the K-8 district by 15.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation if voters approve the budget April 18.
The tax rate to support the operation of the school district will rise from $1.832 to $1.989 per $100 of assessed valuation, according to information provided by Business Administrator Cindy Barr-Rague.
That means the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 will see his K-8 tax bill rise from $3,664 in 2005-06 to $3,978 in 2006-07.
The owner of a home assessed at $300,000 will see his K-8 tax bill rise from $5,496 in 2005-06 to $5,967 in 2006-07.
The owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will see his K-8 tax bill rise from $7,328 in 2005-06 to $7,956 in 2006-07.
The owner of a home assessed at $500,000 will see his K-8 tax bill rise from $9,160 in 2005-06 to $9,945 in 2006-07.
K-8 school taxes are one portion of a homeowner’s overall property tax bill. The tax bill includes municipal taxes, Freehold Regional High School District taxes, Monmouth County taxes and other assessments.
The school district’s budget for 2005-06 amounted to $69.27 million.
According to information provided by Barr-Rague, the 2006-07 general fund will total $68.37 million and the general fund tax levy will be
approximately $57.3 million. Residents will vote on the $57.3 million tax levy on April 19.
Residents do not vote on the debt service tax levy, which will be $3.9 million next year to support an overall debt service obligation of $4.7 million.
The total amount to be collected from Marlboro taxpayers to support the 2006-07 budget will be $61.3 million.
Although state aid figures for the 2006-07 school year are not yet available, officials said they used the amount they received in 2005-06 as the state aid figure to calculate next year’s budget. Last year the K-8 district received approximately $10.2 million in state aid.
The surplus applied to the 2005-06 budget was $908,000. According to Barr-Rague, the district does not have any surplus applied to the 2006-07 school budget.
When budget discussions began in January, the administration estimated that the 2006-07 budget was approximately $2 million over a state-imposed spending limit.
School officials have implemented various reductions in the spending plan and several revenue increases in order to come under the state spending limit.
“We all got to work looking for ways to cut $2 million in costs, hopefully without cutting out any of the excellent extra programs that make Marlboro schools special,” board President Warren Brumel said at a Feb. 28 board meeting.
Included in those reductions is the removal of courtesy busing from the budget, which cut a $773,384 expense out of next year’s spending plan.
According to state law, a school district is not required to provide transportation to students who live within a 2-mile radius of the school they attend. The Marlboro district provides the busing as a “courtesy.”
Approximately 40 percent of students who attend the K-8 school district are presently provided with courtesy busing.
The decision on whether to continue courtesy busing will be left up to residents when the service is placed as a second question on the ballot on Election Day. The first question on the ballot will ask residents to approve the $57.34 million tax levy to support the general fund for 2006-07.
According to Barr-Rague, the second question will ask residents if they would be willing to pay 2.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation more on the total increase of the budget in order to keep courtesy busing in the district.
The 2.5-cent tax rate increase to provide courtesy busing would be added to the anticipated 15.7-cent tax rate increase to fund the district’s operating expenses.
If voters decide to retain courtesy busing, the property taxes will be raised by 18.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, which means the tax rate to support the operation of the budget will rise from $1.832 to $2.014 per $100.
That means the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 will see his K-8 tax bill rise from $3,664 in 2005-06 to $4,028 in 2006-07. The owner of a home assessed at $300,000 will see his K-8 tax bill rise from $5,496 in 2005-06 to $6,042 in 2006-07. The owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will see his K-8 tax bill rise from $7,328 in 2005-06 to $8,056 in 2006-07. The owner of a home assessed at $500,000 will see his K-8 tax bill rise from $9,160 in 2005-06 to $10,070 in 2006-07.
However, if voters indicate they do not want to pay the extra cost of courtesy busing, the Township Council will have the opportunity to order the school board to include the expenditure and charge taxpayers anyway.
If voters reject the budget on April 18, the council will also have the opportunity to make recommended dollar cuts in order to lower the tax rate increase for the upcoming year.
Other cuts the school board has made to come within the spending limit are as follows:
+ Increasing class sizes in the elementary schools which will eliminate the need to hire seven additional teachers and the need to purchase six trailers to be used as classrooms. This decision cut $671,251 from the $2 million overage.
+ Eliminating two middle school teachers for a reduction of $108,058.
+ Decreasing costs in special education including eliminating seven instructional assistants, one speech teacher and one speech consultant. This reduced the overage by $301,989.
+ Eliminating half of an English as a Second Language teacher and half of a middle school art teacher for a reduction of $45,000.
+ Eliminating the 4:15 p.m. after-school bus at the two middle schools for a reduction of $50,000.
+ Postponing the purchase of social studies textbooks for students in kindergarten through third grade. This would reduce the overage by $95,457.
+ Reducing salaries of two staff members due to their anticipated retirements for a reduction of $42,677.
+ Miscellaneous reductions in electricity accounts for a reduction of $3,603.
The total amount of reductions due to these cuts is approximately $2.1 million.
The proposed increases in the budget include $50,000 in interest earnings based on increased interest rates and $150,000 in equipment donations from outside sources.
Brumel noted during the meeting that administrators would prefer to be contemplating the addition of new programs and opportunities for students, instead of considering the elimination of existing programs.
“But we must balance that desire with fiscal responsibility and the constraints of state and federal law,” he added.
Polls will be open on April 18 from noon to 9 p.m.