By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN After lambasting the teachers union for refusing to consider contract concessions, the governing bodies of Allentown and Upper Freehold on Tuesday sliced an additional $90,420 from the defeated regional school budget.
Only a handful of people attended the public hearing at Allentown High School on the rejected $18.4 million school tax levy and the six who spoke urged municipal officials not to make any further cuts to the levy. The levy is the total amount of money raised by taxation to support the 2011-2012 operating budget.
In order to keep the tax levy increase under the state-mandated 2 percent cap, the $33 million total budget that voters defeated on April 27 had already called for the layoffs of 19 district employees, the outsourcing of bus routes to private contractors, and the raising of fees that parents pay.
The reductions made by the Allentown Borough Council and Upper Freehold Township Committee at their joint hearing Tuesday night amount to a levy cut of 0.5 percent and do not require further layoffs or program cuts. The cuts mean the tax rate increase will be 4.9 cents instead of 5.6 cents in Allentown and 5.1 cents instead of 5.7 cents in Upper Freehold.
The 0.5 percent levy reduction means the owner of the average Allentown home assessed at $294,000 will pay a $145 increase in school taxes instead of a $164 a savings of $19. For the owner of the average home in Upper Freehold assessed at $446,215, the levy reduction means a $226 increase instead of a $255 increase in school taxes a savings of $29.
Under state law, whenever municipal governing bodies cut the school tax levy they also must identify which line item accounts will be affected by the reduction. Audrey Mount and Dan Zorovich from the Allentown Borough Council and Stephen Alexander from the Upper Freehold Township Committee worked with school district officials prior to the public hearing to identify three budget line-items where savings could be achieved: the unemployment account, the health benefits account and the principals’ salary account.
UFRSD Business Administrator Diana Schiraldi said the $90,420 savings is possible because of developments that have occurred within the last week. A former district employee who was laid off last year has found a new job, which means the district will save $30,000 in unemployment benefits it otherwise would have had to pay, she said. A favorable quote for dental insurance received on May 11 will produce another $30,420 in savings, and the principals’ salary account can be cut by $30,000 because Chris Nagy this week told the district he would be leaving AHS next year for a job in another district.
The UFRSD Board of Education was set to adopt the new $18,355,168 levy at its meeting on May 18, after The Messenger-Press had gone to print.
Municipal officials urged the Board of Education to be tough in its upcoming negotiations with the Upper Freehold Education Association, whose members are in the last year of a contract signed in 2007 that has provided them with annual raises and no-cost health benefits. The existing contract cannot be reopened before it expires without the union’s consent, which has prevented the district from obtaining any concessions in this budget.
Upper Freehold Mayor LoriSue Mount and Mr. Alexander had harsh words for union leaders, particularly the Upper Freehold Regional Education Association president, Warren Gessmann, who did not attend the public hearing. Both Ms. Mount and Mr. Alexander said Mr. Gessmann’s absence was “appalling.”
”If Mr. Gessmann has earned any chits from his years in this district they are all cashed in at this point,” Mr. Alexander said. “I’ve always been told the character of a man, and the soul of a person, is shown in tough times, and when we needed them … they bailed on all of us.”
Mr. Alexander also had some travel advice for Mr. Gessmann.
”I recommend that he travel through Upper Freehold with three things: a new car warranty, a full tank of gas and a cell phone with roadside assistance because there will be nobody that will stop to help him in the event he breaks down,” Mr. Alexander said.
Reached by telephone after the meeting, Mr. Gessmann was unapologetic about refusing to ask union members to accept concessions.
”My members are citizens too who have to pay taxes and food and fuel bills that keep increasing,” he said.
As far as Mr. Alexander’s advice about traveling through Upper Freehold was concerned, Mr. Gessmann said he wasn’t worried.
”I have lots of ex-students in Upper Freehold who would be happy to help me,” Mr. Gessmann said.

