SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Voters give school budget the OK

by Davy James, Staff Writer
   Voters approved the school budget on Tuesday by a ratio of nearly 2-to-1, with 2,554 voters in favor of the $96 million tax levy and 1,214 people voting against it.
   The district’s $139.4 million spending plan carries no increase in last year’s tax rate of $2.605 per $100 of assessed valuation.
   Under that rate, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $196,400 can expect to pay $5,116 in school taxes for the 2009-10 school year.
   District officials were thrilled by the margin of victory, especially after last year’s proposed budget was defeated.
   ”We’re delighted by the results,” said Superintendent Gary McCartney. “We have people in this community who saw this as a very responsible budget. We’re just tickled to have the support of the community.”
   Some voters who cast their ballots at Brunswick Acres Elementary School said they approved of the budget because of the ramifications a defeated budget would have for their children.
   ”We see the affect the budget has had in terms of not offering as many Advanced Placement classes,” said Iram Shahryar. “You now have to pay $60 to take those courses when they used to be free. It’s sad that we’re in a climate where kids want to go to the next level but can’t because there isn’t enough room in the classes or enough teachers to instruct them. We’ve seen the deterioration and the way budget cuts affect the classroom.”
   Other voters who cast ballots against the budget said the board should’ve delivered a plan that cut spending even further.
   ”They could’ve done a better job and could’ve cut a lot more,” said Norman Brautman. “They got a lot of money from the state so they should’ve given us a tax cut.”
   Voters polled at the community center at Woodlot Park said their children were a determining factor in their decision to vote for the spending plan.
   ”They’re cutting jobs already so what’s going to happen to the kids?” said Deepak Mehta. “We need to be spending more money on education for our kids.”
   Other voters said the cost of education is already too high.
   ”There seems to be no limit to what they can charge us here for education,” said Nick Avillion. “Sports is a big issue for me with the money they’re spending. They ought to find corporate sponsors for the sports teams.”
   This year’s budget was able to carry a 2.8 percent increase from last year’s budget without raising the tax rate due to a number of factors.
   The district received a 5 percent increase in state aid from last year, bringing the aid total to $25,251,515. The district also utilized $3.95 million from surplus, in addition to bond refinancing and fiscal prudence.
   However, some voters said the budget could’ve been even lower.
   ”We’re already spending too much on education,” said Debbie Toth, who cast her ballot at Indian Fields Elementary School. “They need to start spending more responsibly.”
   Other voters said they felt the board delivered a responsible budget because there was no increase in the tax rate.
   ”I think they did a good job,” said Keith Oliver, who has two children who attend school in the district. Mr. Oliver said he most likely would’ve still voted to approve the budget if there had been an increase in the tax rate.
   District officials said the margin of victory was indicative of the work done by the board to deliver a responsible budget.
   ”We’re very happy that voters responded to the measures that we implemented in this budget,” said school board President Martin Abschutz. “There was no increase in taxes while also keeping some of the fine programs this community has been supporting for many years.”