By Frank Mustac, Contributor
Taxpayers under the purview of the Hopewell Valley Regional School District will either see their tax rate remain flat or notice a slight uptick in their costs, depending on where they live after the Board of Education unanimously passed its spending plan., Following a presentation and final hearing by Superintendent of Schools Thomas Smith, the board unanimously passed the $84.4 million budget for the 2017-18 school year on Monday., According to district officials, property owners in both Hopewell and Pennington Boroughs will see a flat tax rate from last year at $1.54 per $100 of assessed property value and $1.55 per $100 of assessed property value, respectively., Hopewell Township residents, however, will see a property tax rate increase of three cents from the previous year, going from $1.55 per $100 of assessed valuation to $1.58., If a household in all three boroughs was assessed at $300,000 last year and remained as such for this year’s tax bill, Hopewell Borough residents can expect to pay approximately $4,620 in school taxes. A household in Pennington at that same assessed value would pay approximately $4,650 in school taxes., A Hopewell Township household valued at $300,000 paid approximately $4,650 in school taxes last year. With the three cent increase, that same household, valued at that same amount, will pay approximately 4,740 in school taxes this year, marking a $90 increase., In order to support the budget, the school district will collect a tax levy of $70.7 million, which marks a 1.9 percent increase from the previous school year. State law mandates that a two percent cap on how much a school district’s tax levy for its general fund may be increased over the previous year., The 2017-18 user friendly budget is available on the Hopewell Valley Regional School District website., According to Superintendent of Schools Thomas Smith, the proposed budget allows the school district to maintain all existing student programs and services., “Something we pride ourselves in as a school district is our commitment to the whole child,” Smith said, “I want to remind you that something that the board of education has supported and continues to support through this budget is that we have over 100 clubs and activities for our students in grades six through 12.”, During his budget presentation, the superintendent focused on the “return on investment” for the amount of money taxpayers contribute to the district’s six schools., “There is something for everyone,” he said explaining that the school board approves new clubs on a regular basis. “We embrace that. We encourage that. We know the importance of students connecting to our schools.”, Smith said the district primarily functions on “practical skills development” when discussing potential programs for its students., “We do have a working auto shop, a fully functioning wood shop and a newly expanded engineering lab,” he said. “So in addition to all of our academic pursuits, this is really something that is important to us as a school district.”, Board of Education president Lisa Wolff also talked about the fact that Hopewell Valley Central High School is a comprehensive school., “You’re starting to see more and more information in the press and social media these days about the importance of practical skills,” Wolff said. “Those skills of carpentry, understanding electrical, understanding plumbing, understanding anything about, for example, home maintenance – those are jobs that cannot be outsourced.”, Pointing to an assertion that “a lot of schools do not offer” practical skills in their curriculum, Wolff said the district has given students an alternative route to life after school., “I received compliments on that fact that we have a class called ‘Home Maintenance’ where you can just spend a semester learning about all the different things you need to do. Those are skills that a lot of people forget about that are lost,” she said. “That’s a priority that we have.”
