By Amber Cox
BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP Bordentown City voted to keep the defeated Bordentown Regional School District’s $33.2 million budget “intact and not cut 10 cents out.”
As required, school officials must submit the spending plan to the governing bodies of the district after a defeat for them to either approve the budget or recommend cuts.
If the towns are unable to agree on the budget, it will be sent to the county superintendent for approval.
Mayor James Lynch and Commissioner Targonski represented the city, and Mayor Michael Dauber represented the township. Fieldsboro Mayor Ed Tyler was not present due to illness.
”The school kept us up to date during the process,” Mayor Lynch said. “It was important that the school reached out to us, and they did. We know the struggle; we did it in the city. I believe the township is just as concerned about cutting this budget.”
Mayor Dauber said he, too, supports the budget and plans to recommend leaving it as is to the Township Committee, which was set to vote on the outcome at a special meeting Wednesday.
However, Mayor Dauber said in the future he would like to see that the board not award any contract increases that go over the set cap.
”There are some things you don’t have control over, but the increase you do have control over,” he said. “Anywhere we can save the taxpayer, we end up serving everybody. We need to come to a conclusion that will serve everybody.”
School Superintendent Constance Bauer explained that when negotiations of the contracts started, it was before there was a discussion of a cap and also under a different governor.
”Looking back, that’s why things happened the way they did,” she said. “I took a pay freeze. I can’t take a raise and cut staff; it doesn’t sit well with me.”
Mayor Dauber said the township supports the budget because “we need to educate our children,” adding the things the township disagrees with already happened and are in place.
”Leave the budget as is,” he said.
If the budget is kept as is, residents in Bordentown City would have a tax rate of $1.36 per $100. Homeowners assessed at the average $224,994 would have to pay $3,032.71 in taxes, an increase of $41 annually.
Residents in Bordentown Township would have a tax rate of $1.37 per $100. Homeowners assessed at the average $281,311 will pay $3,853.96 in taxes, an increase of $99 annually.
Residents in Fieldsboro would have a decreased tax rate of $1.40 per $100. Residents assessed at the average $180,238 would pay $2,523.33 in taxes, a decrease of $50.
Fieldsboro was scheduled to vote on the budget Wednesday, May 18.
The school board voted unanimously to accept the resolution from the city to keep the budget as is.
School district budgets are due to the county superintendent today, May 19.

