TINTON FALLS — The Tinton Falls School District has proposed a $28,496,069 budget for the 2009-10 school year, an increase of about $250,000 from last year.
The school budget as proposed represents an increase of about 0.88 percent from last year’s budget of $28,243,300.
The spending plan, which taxpayers will vote on April 21, calls for a tax levy of $17,680,228, compared to last year’s $17,580,444.
According to Tinton Falls School District Business Administrator Tamar Sydney- Gens, the tax levy includes another $1,527,327 in debt service already voted on and approved during previous referendums.
The tax rate per $100 of assessed valuation would go down for both Tinton Falls and Shrewsbury Township, which sends students to the district.
Tinton Falls residents would pay 62.28 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, which would be down 2.1 cents from last year. Shrewsbury Township residents would pay 67.04 cents, down 0.06 cents from last year.
The average Tinton Falls homeowner would pay $2,140 in school taxes, which would be a decrease of about $72 from last year. The average Shrewsbury Township homeowner would pay $1,005 in school taxes, down $1 from last year.
While some budget items, like salaries and benefits, will increase this year, the budget includes some cuts to keep the spending plan comparable to last year, according to Sydney-Gens.
“Most of the money in any school budget is in the areas of salaries, health benefits, utilities and transportation,” she explained.
“We trimmed the budget in various places across the board,” she said. “Transportation will be cut a little. Our special-education needs have changed in the last year, so we have reduced some money there.”
The Tinton Falls budget is split between Tinton Falls, whose taxpayers pay approximately 97.5 percent of the tax levy, and Shrewsbury Township, where taxpayers pay a 2.5 percent share of the tax levy.
One way that the district fills the needs of its student body is by keeping class sizes as low as possible, especially for the younger grades, according to Sydney-Gens.
“Based on the needs of our students, we have the ability to move staff around to adapt to class sizes,” she said. “This is especially important for the younger grades, where personal attention is more important.”
Sydney-Gens also expects more activities to be restored to the Tinton Falls curriculum.
“We are looking to bring back certain programs into our co-curricular areas,” Sydney Gens said. “Programs we are looking to bring back include the newspaper club, computer club, homework club and sportswriter club.
“We hope to provide additional technology in the classrooms,” she added.
The K-8 school district includes three schools and expects to serve 1,638 students in the 2009-10 school year.
Contact Ken Walter at [email protected]