BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer
SPOTSWOOD – In a unique move compared to other Middlesex County towns, officials here have decided against reducing the defeated school budget.
During a special meeting Tuesday night, the Borough Council voted 3-1 against making cuts in the tax levy, which will increase the school tax rate by 10 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, or $252 on the average home. The 2006-07 school budget was defeated in the April 18 election by a vote of 448-382, but many parents have since attended meetings to urge against cutting the budget.
Councilman Curtis Stollen was the only member who voted to make a cut, but even he said he did not want more than $50,000 removed from the $21.7 million budget. That would have reduced the tax increase by about 1 cent.
Councilman Thomas Barlow said he simply did not find any areas of the budget that could be reduced without having a negative impact on programs. Stollen agreed there was “no fat” in the budget.
Barlow said the council met with the Board of Education and discussed the budget for more than two hours May 3. Some council members had also met privately with board members.
“There’s no fat or waste,” Barlow said.
Board of Education President Rich O’Brien recognized the council “for their thorough and meticulous review of the budget” at meetings leading up to Tuesday’s vote. He also thanked the council for having the “political courage in doing what they thought was best for the community, versus what was popular.”
Board of Education Vice President Alan Bartlett said he was pleased to hear the budget will not be decreased. A reduction would result in service disruptions or loss of staff, and the board had already cut the high school auto shop program and other staff positions as a way to control spending.
In addition, after the budget was adopted by the board, school officials learned the district would be losing $23,000 in anticipated federal No Child Left Behind funds.
As for people who say the council ignored a democratic vote, Bartlett said he would tell them “to focus on the fact that we’ve eliminated the [auto shop] program.” In addition, residents should view the council’s job as rooting out excess in the budget, not trimming necessities.
“That’s the spirit and intention,” of the council review, he said.
Bartlett said the fact that the tax levy lost by so few votes tells him demographics are changing in Spotswood, which has seen its school budget defeated every year since 1994.
Councilmen Edward Seely and James
Shearn also voted to uphold the board’s budget as is.
Stollen said he was in favor of a small cut as a “compromise.” By not cutting anything, he said the council “disenfranchised” voters.
Stollen admitted it would be very hard to find areas to cut, especially given the short amount of time the council had to do so by law. He said if the borough auditor went over the budget he would probably find areas to cut, but the town would have to pay him $10,000 to $15,000.
Bartlett said he feels residents did not cast votes against education.
“They vote against the system,” he said of the reliance on property taxes to fund education. He added that they would also likely vote down state and county budgets if given the chance.
Barlow noted how the 2006-07 budget was up less than 2 percent from last year’s budget, far below inflation.
“They cut it to the bone,” he said of the school board.
School athletic programs like softball, football and drama would likely be the losers if the council ordered a cut, Barlow said.
Still, Stollen council members should not think they are smarter than residents.
“You have to trust their vote,” he said.