Proposed tax rate of 62.1 cents per $100 of assessed value is 2.4 cents more than in 2008-2009
By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
STOCKTON — At the polls April 21, voters will be asked to approve Stockton Public School’s proposed budget of $675,864.
The tax levy, the amount that will come from local taxes, is $617,954, which meets the state’s 4 percent cap.
The proposed tax rate of 62.1 cents per $100 of assessed value is 2.4 cents more than in 2008-2009.
For the owner of a house assessed at the borough average of $322,466, property taxes to support the school would increase $77.39 for a total of $2,002.51, if the budget is OK’d as is.
Last year, the owner of a house assessed at the same average, with a tax rate of 59.7 cents per $100 of assessed value, paid $1,925.12.
In addition, debt service for improvements to the school will add another 1.4 cents to the tax bill, or $45.15 for the average homeowner.
The debt service stems from more than $500,000 in improvements to the historic structure in a project undertaken in the summer of 2008. About half of the funding came from a state grant, and half of the remainder is being paid for by the state, with the rest falling on taxpayers. State aid for debt service will amount to $8,458 in 2009-10, up from $7,723.
More than $19,000 from the fund balance, or surplus, will be put toward the school’s budget.
The largest part of the school’s spending plan, approximately 85 percent, goes to teachers’ salaries and benefits, according to Board of Education President Rick McDaniel. In the final year of a three-year contract, teachers will receive a contractual 3.5 percent raise.
Mr. McDaniel pointed out the percentage is lower than the average raise teachers in Hunterdon County usually receive, which is “typically 4.6 or 5 percent,” he said.
”They have traditionally lower salary increases than either the state or the county,” Mr. McDaniel said.
Another increase is in the area of special education, which public school districts must provide as mandated by law. If they cannot provide for a student’s special and unique needs in-house, the law says the district must pay for an out-of-district placement.
In Stockton, the district’s special education cost will increase 15 percent to nearly $100,000.
Fundraising by the PTO remains an important and valued asset in helping to trim costs, according to Mr. McDaniel. The PTO’s annual rummage sale usually brings in about $7,000, and an equal or higher amount is raised from the annual “spaghetti and art” event.

