MONROE: Council to meet with school over defeated budget

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   MONROE — Taxpayers and their representatives on the Board of Education and Township Council can’t seem to come to an agreement on the school district’s budget.
   Last Wednesday, voters turned down the proposed school budget 2,262 to 3,387 and turned down full-day kindergarten 3,606 to 1,802.
   The budget was proposed at $102,926,020, with a tax rate of $2.413 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a house assessed at the average of $169,399 would have paid $4,087.60 per year in school taxes if the budget had passed.
   Full-day kindergarten at Barclay Brook, Mill Lake and Oak Tree elementary schools would have cost $777,237.
   The council will meet with the board Monday to discuss the school budget.
   Members of the council and the board consistently have said the budget is a responsible one, and board President Lew Kaufman has said the budget is nothing more than “lights on.”
   Tom Nothstein, of Nathaniel Street, explained, at the council meeting Monday why voters turned down the budget and full-day kindergarten.
   ”It’s one of the few times the taxpayers have a voice on how their local tax dollars are spent,” he said, adding it’s hard to convince people a school budget is good for a town when that budget continues to cause taxes to go up.
   ”A consistently turned down budget creates a habit. The result of that is the schools go down,” said council Vice President Henry Miller, adding the main ones who are punished by a rejected budget are the children in Monroe schools.
   He said if the township doesn’t see good budgets are put forth, the school district easily can slip into mediocrity.
   School officials have emphasized the main cause of the school district’s high tax rate is the low amount of state aid the district receives. Monroe anticipates receiving $1,125,818 in state aid, or $204.69 per student, for the upcoming school year.
   Michele Arminio, of Nathaniel Street, said the state aid really doesn’t matter because it’s ultimately taxpayer money as well.
   ”What we have to do is look at the waste,” she said, adding the district should look at line items like transportation, which costs $7 million.
   Council members explained the school district’s transportation system is unique since it has to bus all its students due to the fact the township has no sidewalks, except in certain developments.
   Mr. Miller added the school district will open a new high school next year, and most districts receive state grants for such projects.