$150,000 cut eyed for NBRSD budget

By Amber Cox
   The Chesterfield, Mansfield and Springfield municipalities all have passed resolutions to cut $150,000 from the Northern Burlington Regional School District budget that was defeated by voters April 27.
   North Hanover still has to approve the resolution for the cut to become final.
   After a budget defeat, officials are required to submit the spending plan to the governing bodies of the district, which will either approve the budget as is or recommend cuts.
   If all four towns don’t agree, the budget will be sent to the county superintendent for approval.
   The tax levy that was shown on the budget was $15.9 million and now will be reduced to $15.8 million.
   The resolution also included that “the school district utilize any combination of the above cited $150,000 reduction recommended to render a zero tax increase for the 2011-2012 budget year.”
   Springfield Township Councilman David Frank said the whole process is an absurdity “because none of us has any real authority in this process to really direct what happens with this thing.”
   ”In the end, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “We have it foist upon us as governing bodies that we have a responsibility to determine what the ultimate tax levy should be, but not really what it gets used towards. The elected officials of the school board will do what it is they were elected to do, which is build their own budget.”
   Springfield Mayor Denis McDaniel said the school has the discretion over the line items, “but the dollar figures are binding.”