By Eileen Oldfield, Staff Writer
Voters defeated a $108,703,334 proposed school budget Tuesday night, with 3,222 voting against it and 2,405 for it, a change from last year’s budget win.
The budget was a 0.5 percent decrease from last year’s $109,201,188 budget, however, reduced state aid pushed the tax rate higher. The rate would have increased 7.3 cents per $100 of assessed value, from $1.97 to $2.04, if the budget were passed. It will now go to the Township Committee, where cuts beyond those already made could be enacted.
”Obviously, I’m disappointed,” District Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer said. “A lot of people put a lot of work into creating the budget and communicating the budget.”
A meeting date with the Township Committee had not been determined by the Hillsborough Beacon’s deadline, however, Dr. Forsthoffer said he would work with Hillsborough and Millstone officials to see where cuts can be made. The Board of Education and the Township Committee have until May 19 to make the cuts and approve the revised budget.
According to Township Committee Finance Chairman Carl Suraci, one of the anticipated problems is the combination of the Millstone School district with the Hillsborough district. Prior to last year, Hillsborough received tuition from the students being sent to Hillsborough schools, since Millstone did not have schools of its own. The districts were combined in July 2009, abolishing the tuition from Millstone.
”One of the wrinkles is because of Millstone,” he said. “Hillsborough is $70 million of the budget to Millstone’s (less than $1 million). That is one obstacle we have to rectify.”
The district and the Township Committee are waiting on direction from Executive County Superintendent Trudy Doyle about how Millstone will fit into this year’s budget.
Mr. Suraci was unsure of where the committee would look for cuts, and said the committee would need to see which areas were already cut too severely.
”There are certain services the Board of Education needs to deliver,” he said. “That is something we will be conscious of.”
Mayor Frank Del Core said the township will use its approach for the town budget looking at items line-by-line to examine costs when handling the school budget.
”Clearly the school budget was a passionate issue, which we saw in the turnout,” he said. “We will start to undertake discussions very soon, sooner rather than later.”
About 22.5 percent of Hillsborough’s registered voters nearly 24,500 people cast ballots Tuesday, with some voters seeing lines at their polling locations when voting began at 2 p.m., and lines continuing into the night.
Board of Education candidates Thuy Ahn Le and Thomas Kinst also won their bids for the board seats, with Ms. Le receiving 3,751 votes and Mr. Kinst getting 2,526. Both thanked the residents who supported them, but noted the board faces further challenges regarding future budgets.
”I don’t have input this year, but what we learn from this year, we can take and work on in the budget so it passes next year,” Ms. Le said. “Listen to the people, and make sure we have a budget that will pass.”
”This year is going to be a challenging year with the budget, in terms of state funding and a probably limit on the cap,” Mr. Kinst said. “The residents sent a clear message to the board (this year), and that’s what we have to keep in mind as we go into next year.”
Incumbent Gregg Gillette will return for another term, after getting 3,062 votes. Fellow incumbent Frank Blandino appears to have fallen short in his bid for re-election, receiving 2,520 votes, however, any absentee ballots have not been counted and Mr. Blandino could receive enough to overcome Mr. Kinst’s vote tally.
Mr. Blandino said he would miss his fellow board members, and thanked the voters for who supported him, and called the budget a “no-win situation.”
”Any time that many people face losing their jobs, it’s a raw deal,” Mr. Blandino said. “I believe the Finance Committee and Dr. Forsthoffer did the best they could with it. When it’s that many jobs, how can anybody be happy with it.”
Mr. Gillette, who was on the board’s Budget Committee, said he would “stay true to my commitment to value the role of the parent and respect the wishes of the taxpayer.”