The spending plan will get a public hearing on March 26.
By: Joseph Harvie
The school board adopted a tentative $131.5 million budget Monday that would maintain current programs, fund new textbooks for updated curriculum and pay for maintenance projects at four schools.
The proposed 2007-2008 budget, which is 4.3 percent larger than the current-year spending plan, would carry a 4.8 percent tax increase if approved by voters on April 17.
District officials say they drafted the budget assuming a proposed 4 percent tax levy cap would be in place. The cap was approved by the state Legislature but has not been signed into law by Gov. Jon Corzine.
School Business Administrator Anthony Tonzini said the district was told by the state to include the levy cap when preparing the budget, and was forced to because of budget software supplied by the state, included the cap.
Mr. Tonzini said that the district did not accept any special requests or new purchases or programs from district employees in the budget because the district knew it would be limited in what it could fund because of the levy cap.
He said that Superintendent Gary McCartney wanted the district to preserve all educational programs currently being run in the district. To do that and to stay within the 4 percent cap, the board had to cut $1 million from its original spending plan before it was submitted to the Board of Education.
"We knew going into the process that tax relief and getting re-elected was the chief concern of every New Jersey legislator," Mr. Tonzini said.
The tentative plan calls for an 11.8-cent increase in the school tax rate to $2.558 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Under that rate a house assessed at the township average of $196,000 would pay $5,013.68 in school taxes, which is $231.28 more than the current bill.
The board will hold a public hearing on the budget at 8 p.m. March 26 in the auditorium at Crossroads North Middle School on Georges Road.
Budget presentations also will be held:
7 p.m. March 22 at South Brunswick High School;
7:30 p.m. March 23 at Greenbrook School;
7 p.m. April 10 at Brooks Crossing and Monmouth Junction schools;
7:30 p.m. April 10 at Brunswick Acres, Constable and Greenbrook schools;
7:30 p.m. April 11 at Cambridge and Indian Fields schools; and
7 p.m. April 12 at Crossroads North Middle School.
The proposed budget includes $1 million for improvements several schools, $450,000 for new textbooks, and $350,000 for new computer software to be installed throughout the district, Mr. Tonzini said.
The $450,000 for textbooks includes new social studies books for the district’s revised curriculum, and replacement of older math, science, language arts and business books, Mr. Tonzini said.
The tentative plan also calls for $500,000 to be used for a new roof at Crossroads North, $250,000 for brick work and sidewalk repairs at Brunswick Acres and $250,000 for new firewalls at Indian Fields at Dayton and Brooks Crossing at Deans, Mr. Tonzini said. The district will use $250,000 of its capital improvements surplus to cover some of the costs, Mr. Tonzini said.
The district also took into account an expected 221-student enrollment increase when preparing the budget, Mr. Tonzini said. There are currently 8,790 students in the district.
To cover the increase, the district plans to create three new teaching positions, Mr. Tonzini said. Teacher-to-student ratios under the plan would stay at one for every 23 for elementary school students and one for every 25 middle and high school students.
The district will eliminate six nonteaching positions, he said.
The district plans to use $3.86 million of its surplus as revenue in the budget, the same as last year, which leaves the maximum amount in its surplus account. The state only allows 3 percent of the previous year’s budget to be left in its surplus, Mr. Tonzini said.
The tentative plan includes $20.16 million in state aid, which is 1.92 percent or $958,840 more than the $19.2 million it received in 2006-2007. The aid represents 24.2 cents on the tax rate, Mr. Tonzini said.

