By Lea Kahn
Lawrence Township school district officials breathed a sigh of relief last week, as township voters overwhelmingly approved the tax levy to support the district’s proposed $64.6 million operating budget for 2011-12.
The $57.3 million tax levy was approved by a vote of 999-478. The overall voter turnout was 1,477, which is about 7 percent of the township’s 19,450 registered voters. Voter turnout at the school board elections has varied from 8 percent to 19 percent in recent years.
Voters also returned two incumbent school board members to serve three-year terms on the Board of Education, along with a newcomer to the board. One of the three incumbent school board members chose not to seek re-election. There was no contest for the three seats.
Incumbents Ginny Bigley and Bill Michaelson received 1,077 votes and 1,034 votes, respectively. They are going to serve their third, three-year terms. Newcomer Deborah Cherry received 1,031 votes. Out-going school board member Deborah Endo did not seek re-election.
Approval of the $57.3 million tax levy to support the 2011-12 budget means the school district tax rate will increase by 3 cents, from $2.30 per $100 of assessed value to $2.33. The owner of a house assessed at the township average of $161,292 will pay $3,758 in school district property taxes, which is a $49 increase over the current tax bill.
The tax rate increase is due to a decline in the township’s ratable base, which has dropped by $122 million in the last two years, according to school district officials. None of the tax rate increase is a result of increased school spending.
Meanwhile, the $64.6 million spending plan is $425,291 less than the current $65 million budget. Some of the savings is attributable to salary freezes and an increase in employees’ contributions toward their health insurance benefits.
The school district also is using $354,000 in net revenue from the district’s solar energy initiative as a revenue source. The solar initiative placed solar panels on the roofs of every school building in the district. The district sells solar renewable energy credits generated by the solar panels.
The district also is receiving a $672,646 increase in state aid. The district received $1.5 million in state aid in 2010-11, and it will receive $2.2 million for the 2011-12 budget. The increase in state aid allowed the district to shave 2 cents off the initial tax rate increase of 5 cents, reducing it to 3 cents.
Superintendent Philip Meara and school board President Laura Waters were pleased with the results. Mr. Meara said he was “delighted” with the level of support that the community has given the school district.
”During this slow recovery and continued challenging economic times, we focused on proposed a budget that contains efficiencies while preserving our values,” Mr. Meara said. “The budget passage clearly represents the community’s partnership in support of those efforts.”
Ms. Waters agreed that “once again, the Lawrence Township community has shown its support” for the children. The vote validated the shared commitment to provide an excellent education for the students while remaining mindful of the burden on taxpayers, she said.
”These are tough times and the school board takes nothing for granted,” Ms. Waters said.

