Economic downturn weighing on school budget

by Eileen Oldfield Staff Writer
School board, seeking input from residents, told to keep spending lean
   HILLSBOROUGH — Even though the school budget election is five months away, a few taxpayers are already urging district officials to craft a leaner school budget for hard economic times.
   The district began asking for budget input in October, months before the formal budget hearing and the April election. In addition to soliciting input at each of the board’s monthly meetings, the district placed a budget survey on its Web site.
   According to Edward Forsthoffer, the survey will remain on the Web site until the board approves the final budget that will appear on the April ballot.
   Despite the opportunities, Dr. Forsthoffer said the board has only received a few e-mails from residents regarding next year’s budget.
   Last year’s $106 million budget passed by 26 votes, despite a $4,205,000 increase in state funding and a stronger economy last year. This year, however, the state funding will not increase, and that could affect the school portion of residents’ property taxes.
   ”Next year’s budget will not have an increase in state funding and the financial situation will most likely not be corrected,” Dr. Forsthoffer said. “We have already begun looking at grants for capital projects and building renovations. Last year, we put a considerable amount of money into facility repair and we should be able to put less in for next year. Also, the state has imposed a modest cap for budget increases and I (along with the BOE) have no intention of requesting a waiver of this cap.”
   This year, the district financed an unexpected and expensive repair of the Sunnymead Elementary School roofs, which cost approximately $1 million.
   Despite economic troubles, the township’s chief finance officer, Nancy Haberle, said tax revenue has remained normal thus far.
   ”We have not seen a significant drop in collections,” Ms. Haberle said. “We’re about normal.”
   The school district’s survey form can be found at: www.hillsborough.k12.nj.us/
hillsborough/cwp/
view.asp?A=3&Q=277728&1392Nav=&NodeID=1316.