WEST WINDSOR: School budget process underway

By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
   WEST WINDSOR — “We will eventually get there but it won’t be easy” is how West Windsor-Plainsboro School Board President Hemant Marathe described composing the 2011-2012 budget, which entered into round one of public discussion at its meeting Tuesday night.
   The presentation, given in two parts by Superintendent Victoria Kniewel and Larry Shanok, assistant superintendent of finance, introduced the public to this year’s budgetary demands, including the state-imposed 2 percent cap, and the district’s priority of engaging stakeholders in discussion to meet those demands.
   Mr. Shanok began with a review of how the board met the challenge of the previous year’s budget, which was marked by the unexpected loss of $7.7 million in state aid.
   Items that were cut included five supervisory positions and three and a half secretarial positions, and across the board, funding was reduced to the areas of capital spending, grounds services, classroom supplies, travel, the Outdoor Education program, sports teams and buses, among other areas.
   The presentation did not show monetary amounts assigned to certain areas because the district is awaiting guidelines from the state and doesn’t yet know how much state aid will be awarded, Mr. Marathe said.
   He said board meetings through April will address individual parts of the budget. But the board does know, given the cap, the budget can only increase by $2.75 million this year.
   Mr. Shanok said $2.1 million of surplus from the 2010-2011 budget will factor into this year’s budget for tax relief, but the amount is down significantly from the 2009-2010 year, which yielded a $4.8 million surplus.
   However, with the budget increase of $2.75 million, at maximum, and the surplus, Mr. Shanok does not predict an increase in general fund tax levy.
   ”In the last four years, we’ve squeezed out a lot of cost, which then becomes available for tax relief,” he said. “Money that was shaved last year equals dollars for the future.”
   Mr. Marathe said that during his 10 years on the board, the district has always yielded a surplus, which speaks volumes of the district’s ongoing fiscal responsibility.
   ”Every year we’ve had a surplus and haven’t spent it all, and we show substantial tax relief,” he said. “We do a good job and I’m proud of what these people do.”
   He added that the district’s budget is typically $1,000 less than the state average, but what should be a commendable feat of efficiency may be a disadvantage, as the district struggles to cut excess spending in an already trim budget.
   ”There’s just no way we can do everything the same as we did last year and meet the 2 percent cap,” he said. “So we have to find cuts, but they won’t be easy to find.”
   Mr. Shanok said the budget must also take into consideration possible roadblocks, such as an additional decline in state aid, a decline in state-funded Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund and employee Social Security and possible increases in health premium costs.
   ”It would be a worst nightmare if the ground suddenly shifts on this,” Mr. Shanok said, regarding funding to TPAF and Social Security, which are worth about $10 million combined.
   The presentation pointed to successful ways the district has been cutting costs in recent years, including using shared services and in-district special services and moving along with the second phase of a solar energy program to reduce energy costs.
   A bond referendum seeking to expand the use of solar panels will be included on the ballot in April’s school board elections and budget vote. The first phase of a pilot solar energy program was approved in the 2009 budget and has generated 220 kilowatts of energy between the two high schools. For phase two, the board wants to add solar panels to seven more schools in the district, projecting that they will generate 1,070 watts of energy.
   The referendum would ask the voters to approve about $6.4 million in federal bonds. In the summer of 2009, the board received approval for the allocation of $7.6 million in no-interest tax credit bonds from the federal government’s Clean Renewable Energy Bonds program. Mr. Marathe said the district will likely only need $6.4 of the $7.6 million due to a drop in solar energy prices.
   But Mr. Shanok said the allocation was given an expiration date of two years, so the board has until this coming summer to use them. The referendum cannot appear on the ballot until it receives approval from the state, he said, which he is pursuing.
   Mr. Shanok’s report shows the solar project will create a “positive cash flow” in its first 12 months of operation. The district would save on energy costs and also profit from selling solar renewal energy certificates, which the district would receive by sending extra electricity back to the power company for distribution. The income may be used to offset costs elsewhere in the budget.
   Though issuing the bonds will incur debt, Mr. Shanok also said the district will hold to its annual debt service levy at or below $11.1 million, which was agreed upon in the 2006 referendum for school building improvements.
   Superintendent Kniewel gave her own presentation about engaging the community. She described several ways of gathering ideas from district stakeholders, which include administrators, teachers, staff, parents and students, and translating them into actions affecting the budget.
   Implementing ideas with “high ease and high impact” will be this year’s challenge, she said.
   With the purpose of promoting transparency, she has been holding monthly meetings with various stakeholder groups. But she said the first-ever community budget forum will be the most significant way to create community dialogue and for her to hear a variety of opinions and ideas.
   The forum, which was canceled for Thursday night due to the snow, will be rescheduled.
   ”As we move forward we must try to look through the lens of our core values,” she said. “It’s easy to reduce spending, but it’s hard to reduce spending while keeping in alignment with the values of the district.”
   During public comment, Debbie Baer, president of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Association, said as the district works to meet the pressures of the budget, it should strive for unity.
   ”There are a lot of things that are out of our control with this budget, but there’s one thing we can control, and that’s staying together,” she said.