PRINCETON: School board awaits state aid data

By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
   School budget deliberations continued this week in Princeton, where the Princeton Regional Board of Education members examined the impact of a preliminary budget Tuesday as they await the official announcement of state aid numbers some time in March.
   Board members examined preliminary 2009-2010 budget documents during Tuesday’s workshop that project $72,699,027 in revenue, assuming a 1 percent increase in local taxes and flat levels of state funding. The documents showing the 1 percent tax hike are part of the district’s strategy of modeling different increases against the impact on the district.
   A 1 percent increase in the tax levy would result in a $5 tax increase for the average Princeton Township homeowner. The average Princeton Borough homeowner would see his tax bill jump by $246, although the numbers remain subject to significant changes.
   The discrepancy is due to each municipality’s share of the total tax levy, with borough taxpayers shouldering an additional half percent point of the total levy this year, to 33.3 percent, based on property values in the two towns.
   With salary increases and other numbers included, the level of revenue attained with a 1 percent tax increase means the district will have to implement another $1,090,385 in cuts to balance the budget, according to the documents.
   The $72,699,027 in revenue is only $4,170 more than the 2008-2009 budget, although district officials stressed that the numbers remain highly preliminary in nature and are subject to change as budget numbers are updated and new state and federal revenue levels become known.
   District officials said the magnitude of tax increases will reflect the unique economic pressures facing taxpayers.
   ”The board is working with the administration very, very hard to make strong recommendations to reflect the economy that we’re living in,” said Superintendent Judy Wilson.
   The draft budget assumed the same amount of state aid the district received last year, but Ms. Wilson said the true level of aid will remain unknown until Gov. Jon S. Corzine delivers his budget address in early March.
   She called frozen funding “the best-case scenario,” as the state deals with falling revenues amid the deepening economic crisis.
   A variety of school departments would be subject to cuts, according to Tuesday’s documents, with cuts of $400,393 in the budget’s student services entry, a $157,620 cut in transportation, and a $45,200 cut in the board office’s budget.
   Rate increases in utilities have the district projecting a need for an additional $300,000 in funding over last year’s utility earmarks.
   As usual, salary increases drive much of the need for increasing the budget at all.
   Total district salaries increase from $39,403,734 in last year’s budget to $41,118,737 in the draft budget examined Tuesday, to a total increase of $1,717,041, after the offset of $360,509 through grants.
   If the salary and benefits increase is removed from Tuesday’s documents, the total budget increase is only $116,515.
   The district expects approximately $500,000 in federal stimulus dollars, for use in funding energy-efficient construction and federally funded special education programs.
   However, Ms. Wilson stressed the federal funds will go to the state government first, where funding levels could be altered.