The average Milltown homeowner would see an increase of $155 in their school tax bill under a 2009-10 budget proposed by the Board of Education.
The increase comes despite cuts made in several areas of the budget. The reductions were necessary in order to meet the 4-percent state cap on spending. Among the cuts were the elimination of a half kindergarten position and part-time custodian, and reductions were made in professional development, computer replacement, plant operations and supplies. Also, the late bus from Spotswood High School was eliminated, and Arts Middle School and the Teen Arts Festival were cut.
Superintendent of Schools Linda Madison said the impact of the cuts on education would be minimal. She said kindergarten registration numbers do not support having four sections at that grade level, so a half-position was cut.
In other cases, however, the cuts would impact certain groups of students.
“Some services to students are reduced, and those families who were used to or may need the services will be negatively impacted, especially those high school parents who have children participating in sports at Spotswood High School,” Madison said. Those parents will now have to arrange pickup for their children in the absence of a late bus.
Another group of parents who would feel the cuts are those who have children accepted into the Arts Middle School program. Milltown has partially funded the program over the past 10 years. Due to the proposed cut, Madison said, students who want to participate would be permitted to do so, but the district would not be able to pay for the tuition or transportation. Those fees would fall on the parents, she said.
The reduction in unanticipated special education tuition and transportation would only have an effect if there is more than one new student coming into the school system next year who requires an out-of-district placement. The board tries to build at least two such placements into the budget in case this occurs, since that cost is usually very high, Madison said.
“If we get more than one student, we will have to either get permission from the executive county superintendent to take from our surplus, or move money from regular education discretionary accounts to fund the mandate of an IEP [individualized education program],” Madison said.
The budget for 2009-10 totals $13.45 million, including $7.1 million for the pre-kindergarten to eighth grade program, $4.1 million for costs for high school students, and $2.3 million related to state-mandated programs including special education. Milltown, which has two schools for K- 8 students, pays tuition to send its regular education pupils to Spotswood High School.
The budget projects 275 high school students at a tuition rate of $13,396 per pupil. The district will pay Spotswood $3.63 million, up from $3.5 million this year. High school transportation costs — including the cost of sending students to Spotswood and private schools — are expected to rise to $353,178, from last year’s $280,870. Special education costs in high school are budgeted to decrease, from 170,633 to $116,427. The total high school-related costs would be $4.1 million, up from $3.9 million last year.
The tax levy has risen by $528,527, or 11.35 cents on the tax rate, for an increase of $188 per home on a home assessed at the borough average of $165,631. However, debt service has decreased by 1.97 cents on the tax rate, or $33 per home. Thus, the total tax increase would be $155 for the average house.
Madison said the budget was unusually difficult to craft this year because of added tuition constraints associated with Spotswood High School. The cost of tuition, which is dictated by a state formula, went up by $166,028 for the 275 projected students. This, she said, puts quite a burden on the budget since that increase alone equals 3.6 cents on the tax rate in Milltown.
For the pre-kindergarten through eighthgrade program, expenses have been reduced from the current year’s spending plan, and administrative expenses have been reduced by 7 percent, Madison said.
She noted that costs related to Milltown’s two public schools are little more than half the total budget.
“Of our total budget of $13.45 million, only $7.1 million goes to regular education programs in grades pre-K through eight,” she said.
Another cost the district has to absorb is the projected increase for out-of-district special education placement, from $627,027 budgeted for this year to $862,778 for next year, due to projections.
The board’s message to voters is that their tax dollars are managed responsibly, Madison said, noting that the programs in Milltown’s two public schools are solid.
“We have the consistent results to support that, since we perform in the top three, four or five in the county, in every area, on the state assessments,” she said. “We have been able to preserve an array of afterschool enrichment, remediation, and athletic activities that are very well attended by our students.”
Madison pointed out that debt service is down by almost two tax points in this budget, so the building referendum approved in December 2007 has not added to the tax increase. The cost is less this year than last year due to the way the debt payoff is structured, she said.
The public will vote on the budget from 2-9 p.m. April 21 at the Milltown Senior Center and Joyce Kilmer School.