PLUMSTED: Township officials cut $97K from defeated school budget

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   PLUMSTED — The Township Committee has cut $97,311 from the voter-defeated school budget in a move that whittles down the projected increase in school taxes from $46 a year to $11 a year for the owner of the average assessed home.
   The action came at a special joint meeting of the Township Committee and the Plumsted Board of Education on May 18 at New Egypt High School. The school board then voted 6-1 to adopt the budget with the reduced $9.6 million tax levy.
   The reduction in the tax levy — the total amount collected in taxes to support the budget — was made possible by cuts to the line-item accounts for the school resource officer ($16,000) and capital improvements ($81,311).
   Mayor Ron Dancer told the group of 20 or so in attendance for the public hearing in the high school auditorium that the Township Committee was trying to “accommodate the will of the people” by cutting the budget, but was doing so in a manner that did not affect the curriculum or force teacher layoffs.
   Residents defeated the original budget April 27 by a vote of 1,041 to 543. The budget complied with the 2 percent tax levy cap law by shifting $34,000 in operating expenses to school families with new pay-to-play fees for students in grades 6-12 who participate in sports and clubs. Previously, extracurricular activities were funded entirely by the tax levy, which is paid by all taxpayers.
   Most people who spoke at last week’s meeting asked the Township Committee to refrain from making further cuts to a budget that was already so lean it did not provide funds for full-day kindergarten or freshman sports teams at the high school. This prompted Kenyon Drive resident Tony O’Donnell, one of only a handful of budget opponents present, to remind municipal officials that the views of those speakers did not represent the community as a whole.
   ”A lot of the time what you get at a meeting like this are the people who make their living in the school district,” Mr. O’Donnell told the Township Committee. “What you don’t see tonight are the 1,041 people who voted no on this budget, so please remember them.”
   The Township Committee voted 4-0 to make $97,311 in reductions to the school budget — roughly the same amount the municipal budget has to be reduced by in the wake of the municipal cap waiver defeat. Deputy Mayor Dave Leutwyler recused himself from the school budget vote because his wife is a teacher.
   Under state law, a municipal governing body that reduces the school tax levy also must identify the corresponding line items in the budget where cuts can be made. Mayor Dancer and Township Committeeman Eric Sorchik, serving as the committee’s liaisons to the school district, recommended two line items for cuts.
   To achieve a $16,000 savings in the school resource officer (SRO) account, a younger, lower-paid policeman will be assigned to do the SRO job, Mayor Dancer said. Designating Detective Brant Uricks as the school resource officer for next year, instead of Cpl. Earl Meroney, reduces the school district’s required contribution toward the SRO’s salary by $10,000. The original budget also had a typographical error in Cpl. Meroney’s salary, which accounts for another $6,000.
   The Township Committee also cut $81,311 from the school district’s capital improvement account, possibly affecting the district’s ability to complete planned lighting and HVAC upgrades, as well as curb and sidewalk repairs. However, Mayor Dancer said that he hoped new shared service agreements between the township and school district could be used to address these needs.
   For example, the township may be able to redirect some of the funds it has received under an Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant toward lighting and HVAC projects needed at the schools, the mayor said. The township also may be able to help pay for some curb and sidewalk repairs at the schools using a township-controlled sidewalk trust fund capitalized by developers’ contributions.
   ”The sidewalk fund is not taxpayer generated,” Mayor Dancer said. “The sidewalk funds are voluntary contributions that developers have given to the township … in lieu of installing sidewalks and curbs (in locations) that would be outside the walking distance to school.”
   Christopher Probasco, the only school board member to vote against the adoption of the reduced tax levy set by the Township Committee, argued that it would be more “fiscally responsible” to create a joint fund for the repairs that would be controlled by both entities, instead of just the township.
   ”Good intentions are just that, right? They turn out to be good intentions and they may not deliver,” Mr. Probasco said. “At the end of the day, we as a board have to deliver a budget that is fiscally responsible. We have to fix those sidewalks; we need to budget for them and take care of them.”
   Board of Education President Harry Miller said the May 20 deadline for adopting the school budget meant the school district just had to trust that the shared service agreements would materialize and that the repairs will get done.
   ”It really comes down to a level of trust that we have with the township,” Mr. Miller said. “We trust that the township will work with us to come up with a possible solution.
   ”We would love to have all the black-and-white data in front of us, but at this point we don’t, so it comes down to the history and trust we have between our two organizations,” Mr. Miller added.
   School Business Administrator Sean Gately said the new $9,613,840 tax levy means the annual school tax increase will be about $11 a year more for the owner of the average Plumsted home assessed at $378,400. The original school budget that was defeated by voters had a higher $9,711,151 levy that would have produced a $46 annual increase in school taxes.