Robert Colavita: ”That(estimated 1.4 percent)would be our lowest tax levy increase in over 23 years”
By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
A tentative $72,562,968 school district budget for 2009-2010 was OK’d by a unanimous vote of the school board Monday night.
If enacted in its current form, the Hopewell Valley Regional School District spending plan would bring an overall tax levy increase of an estimated 1.4 percent.
”That would be our lowest tax levy increase in over 23 years,” said Robert Colavita, the district’s business administrator.
”Our goal was a zero percent tax increase, and we came darned close,” said board member Roy Dollard of Hopewell Township. The board’s “Finance and Facilities Committee pushed the administration, which pushed the people in charge of our school buildings, who made the decisions” on which the budget could be held to a 1.4 percent tax increase, Mr. Dollard said.
”We have a lean budget, and the schools will feel it, but I think they certainly will continue to deliver our program,” added Assistant Superintendent Richard Lang.
Thomas Butler, interim superintendent, said the proposed budget maintains all existing programs and services and average class sizes. Primarily due to declining enrollment at the elementary level, a number of staff positions have been eliminated in the tentatively adopted spending plan, which will get a public hearing April 1.
The tentative budget now goes to the county superintendent of schools, who, on behalf of the state, must approve it before it gets a final hearing and goes to voters.
The staff positions dropped under the draft plan are three elementary teachers, one middle school teacher, one campus safety officer and 4.3 clerical paraprofessionals. A vacancy created by the recent resignation of a campus safety officer will not be filled, explained Dr. Butler.
The April 1 public hearing will be the board’s last chance to change the amount of the spending plan before April 21, when school district elections will be held statewide.
If the budget were put into effect with its current dollar amount unchanged, the following estimated school tax impacts would result in the Valley’s three towns:
— The school tax rate on a Hopewell Township residence assessed at $533,300, the township average, would go up 4 cents, to $1.21 per $100 of assessed value. That translates to a $6,453 school tax bill for 2009-2010, up $66 from this year.
— The rate on a Hopewell Borough house assessed at $451,278, the borough average, would stay at $1.18. That would bring the 2009-2010 tax bite for that residence to $5,325, same as this year.
— The rate on a Pennington residence assessed at $527,800, the average for that town, would be $1.20, up 4 cents from this year. That would mean the total school taxes paid by the owner of that house would be $6,334, up $213 from this year.
The differing tax impacts for the three towns result from use of a state-mandated equalization formula, which takes into account the disparity between the market values and assessed values of properties.
While the tentative budget calls for a significantly lower spending increase than in previous years, the effect on taxes is less obvious, district spokeswoman JoAnn Meyer said.
”Property values in the Valley fell substantially over the past year, and, as a result, each property’s share of the tax obligation is proportionally larger,” Ms. Meyer noted. According to the municipal tax assessor’s office, property values in Hopewell Township fell by approximately $63 million. In Hopewell Borough, they are $2 million lower. Only Pennington Borough saw an increase; values there climbed a modest $900,000 since last year.
A 15 percent reduction in day-to-day operational expenses was key to keeping the tentative spending plan as low as it is, Dr. Butler said.
Successfully negotiating lower benefit premiums from health care carriers and consolidating some bus routes also helped, he added, noting — along with Mr. Colavita — that the district is using $1 million in surplus funds to pay off debt. That results in an 18 percent drop, from $4,814,862 to $3,940,662, in the amount of debt the district would have to pay off, under the tentative spending plan. Debt service must be paid and is not subject to voter approval in the public election.
All the district’s debt is due to be paid by 2016, Mr. Colavita said.
State aid to the district will drop from $4,601,414 this year to $4,476,493 for 2009-2010, Dr. Butler and Mr. Colavita said. Federal aid is expected to go up slightly.