Most townships in northern Burlington County have budgets finalized
By: Cara Latham
The state deadline for school districts to submit their 2006-07 budgets is Friday, and most of the townships in northern Burlington County have finalized their budgets. Bordentown Regional School District has been able to cut $568,000 from its rejected budget, bringing the overall budget to $34.3 million.
The tax rate under the new budget will be $2.56 per $100 of assessed property value in Bordentown Township, $2.81 for Bordentown City and $2.63 for Fieldsboro. Taxpayers will save $42 in Bordentown Township and $33 in Bordentown City off the yearly tax bill, while those in Fieldsboro will save $30, compared with the original proposed budget.
Among the cuts approved by the board, the district will save $116,000 by leaving out the additional sixth grade for which the district had planned in the original budget. Next school year, there will be six first-grade classrooms at Peter Muschal Elementary School and two at Clara Barton Elementary School, said Superintendent John Polomano.
It is also cutting $34,000 from athletics by eliminating the freshman squads on each athletic team, but freshmen will still be permitted to play on varsity teams.
Money will also be saved by removing $117,000 for the hiring of new custodial, grounds and maintenance personnel for the new high school scheduled to open this fall.
The Northern Burlington County School District reduced its budget by $200,000 by cutting from its capital projects, including work to be done on a roofing project. The budget now stands at $31.6 million, carrying tax rates of $1.02 per $100 of assessed property value for Chesterfield Township; 1.26 for Mansfield Township; $1.04 for North Hanover Township; and 75 cents for Springfield Township, said Richard Kaz, the school business administrator and board secretary.
Taxpayers in each sending municipality will save an average of 1.2 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Savings from the original proposed budget under the new plan are $26 for Chesterfield taxpayers, $27 for North Hanover, $20 for Springfield and $28 for Mansfield.
Florence Township School District, however, is still in the process of working on the budget with the township, according to Business Administrator Bruce Benedetti and Board of Education President Newell Kehr.
Mr. Kehr said the district will have settled on a new budget with the Township Council during its Wednesday night meeting, after The Register-News deadline. The district’s original $23.8 million budget, which carried a $2.455 tax rate per $100 of assessed property value, was rejected by voters, 582-251.
Mansfield Township School District, which includes two elementary schools, decided on a new budget in the last week of April after working with the township council. It cut $70,000 from the budget that would have been used for a roofing project at John Hydock Elementary School.
The new tax rate will be 1.208 cents per $100 for the owner of a township-average $172,354 house. The taxpayers will save $12.70 this year compared to the original proposed budget as a result of the cuts.
"We’ll just scale back what we’re doing," said Lisa Giovanelli, the business administrator and board secretary for the district.
Chesterfield Township School District reduced its budget by a total of $31,026 and reducing the tax levy by $58,500, leaving the budget at $4.5 million with a tax rate of $1.406 per $100 for the owner of a township-average house, $212,000. The average property owners will save about $45 this year, compared to the original proposed budget.
The district was able to save money because of an unanticipated surplus in account balance and the unanticipated reduction in special education costs, according to Chief School Administrator Constance Bauer.
The district also cut $10,000 from general supplies, which would mostly affect technology, said Dr. Bauer.
"Our hope is that we will continue to receive funding from the REAP grant to offset that cut," said Dr. Bauer.
The Rural Education Achievement Program is designed to help rural districts that may lack the personnel and resources to compete effectively for federal competitive grants and that often receive grant allocations in amounts that are too small to be effective in meeting their intended purposes, according to the U.S. Department of Education Web site.
It also cut tuition expenses by $8,325 and extraordinary services expenses used for special needs or students who need one-on-one services by $9,601. Food services were also cut by $3,100, said Ms. Zoilkowski.