STOCKTON: Taxpayers could pay a little more for school

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   Editor’s Note: Readers are requested to note that property value assessment and tax rate figures in this account differ from those given in a similar account March 24. In that edition, the figure for the average residential assessment for 2010 was incorrect.
   The Board of Education at the Stockton Borough School has proposed a 2011-12 budget that would raise the tax levy by 2 percent.
   The proposed tax levy, the amount provided by taxpayers, would be $649,709.
   Based on property assessment figures provided by Michele Hovan, borough clerk, the increase would mean a small increase for the average homeowner, almost $25.
   The spending plan includes an extra $6,700 for the school’s four full-time teachers. The increase is based on a contract revision the board agreed to last June.
   A new three-year contract last spring gave teachers pay increases of 1 percent, 2 percent and 3 percent — a total of 6 percent over the life of the contract. However, the revision in June changed the pay increases to 2.1 percent, 3.1 percent and 4.1 percent — a total of 9.3 percent over three years.
   Without the revision, the teachers this school year would have ended up with a salary decrease because of a state-mandated 1.5-percent deduction for health benefits contributions.
   ”On average, Stockton’s teacher salaries and compensation are among the lowest in Hunterdon County,” board President Jim Gallagher said. “We appreciate our experienced teaching staff and all that they do for the Stockton community.”
   According to the district, Chief School Administrator Suzanne Ivans’ 2010-15 contract calls for no increase the first three years of the agreement, followed by .5 percent and 1 percent in the final two years respectively. But she also will receive “a one-time only conditional increase of 1.1 percent” on July 1 to offset the 1.5 percent deduction for health insurance, according to the district.
   ”We’ve attempted to control costs as well as we can,” Mr. Gallagher said. “Our administrators understand the pressures that New Jersey taxpayers are facing, and have agreed to salary freezes.”
   The school election, when voters get to have their say over school districts’ spending plans, will be held April 27.
   Initially the board had proposed drawing $10,536 from the district’s surplus to help balance the budget, leaving about $45,000 in the rainy day fund. Adjustments were made following a public hearing March 28, increasing the amount taken from the surplus.
   ”We’ve made some adjustments to revenue and expense projections within the final budget, and as a result we’ll be drawing $25,536 from the surplus to help balance the 2011-12 budget, which will leave approximately $50,000 in the fund,” Mr. Gallagher said.
   The district says it will continue to reduce costs by sharing and contracting services, such as its business administrator, music teacher, child study team and speech and occupational services.
   ”We’ve been through the budget carefully and have cut spending or kept spending levels flat wherever possible,” Mr. Gallagher said. “We also continue to share services with neighboring districts, which helps to keep our costs down. However, there are certain state-mandated costs that we cannot control. For 2011-12 these are projected to increase by 5 percent or more.”
   The district will receive $6,759 in state aid. Last year the school received no aid, but the previous year it received about $14,244.
   ”Please note, while it is true that our state aid has been increased this coming year, this comes with the caveat that our ‘increase’ of $6,759 is still an overall decrease from past years,” Ms. Ivans said. “This is due to the loss of 100 percent of our state aid for the 2010-11 school year, which was a loss of $14,244. Additional money was lost in the budget year 2009-10 when the state did not fully fund aid it had committed to schools, ‘deferring’ the last payment, for a loss of $1,187. This is the second time this has happened, so we are now two months behind in state aid payments, which we anticipate will never be recouped. While these figures may seem small compared to some budgets, they are not to us.”
   The proposed tax rate would be 68.35 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The owner of a house assessed at the average of $373,504 would pay $2,552.90 to support the school, almost $25 more.
   Last year, when the average assessment was $375,964 and the tax rate was 67.25 cents per $100 of assessed property value, the average homeowner paid $2,528.40.
   Voters last year shot down the school’s proposed budget that called for a 4-percent increase. As a result, the Borough Council and the board agreed to a cut of $5,700 that brought the increase down to 3 percent.
   Enrollment this year is 42, and it is projected to be 48 next year.