Millstone Township School District’s current spending plan for 2011-12 would raise the tax levy nearly 2 percent, but school officials have vowed to try to rework the budget and its tax impact.
Business Administrator Bernard Biesaida presented a preliminary version of the 2011-12 school budget at the Jan. 24 Board of Education meeting. The spending plan will be finalized in the next few months and put to a public vote April 27. Anew state-mandated tax-levy cap prevents school districts from increasing the tax levy more than 2 percent annually. The preliminary version of the school budget relies on a tax levy increase of 1.86 percent to $489,942.
The proposed budget amounts to $31.6 million, which is $56,000 more than the 2010-11 budget, and includes funding to keep all district staff, to fulfill contractual obligations, to pay an anticipated 20 percent increase in the cost of health benefits and to hire a full-time superintendent. John Szabo has been serving as the district’s interim superintendent since MaryAnne Donahue retired last year.
The preliminary budget also allocates funds for new programs and initiatives, such as new primary and elementary social studies programs and new curriculum mapping using a Web-based management tool called Atlas.
The budget presentation noted that the district would no longer receive federal funding for its autistic program after June. The presentation also noted that the preliminary budget assumes that the district will continue to outsource the majority of its bus runs to the Upper Freehold Regional School District and will receive the same amount of state aid that it did last year at $3,999,143.
Board of Education President Kevin McGovern said there are many variables involved in putting together a budget, not the least of which is the amount of state aid the district will receive for the 2011-12 school year.
“So it’s important to know that right now the numbers are preliminary and that things may change,” McGovern said.
The preliminary figures give the Board of Education and the public a starting point from which to proceed with the budgeting process, according to McGovern. While he considers the preliminary spending plan a good place to start and noted the administration’s hard work in presenting a lean plan, McGovern said he and other board members would like to see the potential tax-levy increase reduced.
“This will not be an easy task and will require us to find as much as $500,000 in cuts, savings and efficiencies,” McGovern said. “As in past years, we will need to be creative and, where necessary, seek sacrifices that do not jeopardize the effective delivery of curriculum.”
McGovern said the Board of Education and administration are focused on and committed to that task.
“Of course, we welcome the input of the whole community, especially the parents who entrust us with the effective management of their children’s education,” he said.
The terms of board members John Saxton, Holly Dietz, Salvatore Casale and McGovern expire in April. When asked if he intended to run again, McGovern replied he has not yet made a decision.