The mayors of Hopewell Township, Pennington Borough and Hopewell Borough are expressing concern about the 2019-20 budget that has been adopted by the Hopewell Valley Regional School District Board of Education.
In a joint statement issued on May 1 – five days before the board adopted the $89.7 million budget – Mayor Kristin McLaughlin of Hopewell Township, Mayor Joe Lawver of Pennington Borough and Mayor Paul Anzano of Hopewell Borough voiced their concern about the spending plan.
The mayors said their primary concern with the budget is a 5.27% increase ($4.5 million) in the school district’s general fund tax levy from $77.4 million in 2018-19 to $81.89 million in 2019-20.
The mayors and governing bodies of the school district’s three constituent municipalities have no official input on the budget that is developed and adopted by the school board.
On May 6, school board members voted 8-1 to adopt the 2019-20 budget.
Residential and commercial property owners in the three towns will pay the $81.89 million tab over the next year.
“We have always supported our schools and take great pride in their quality. It is one of the key reasons families choose to move to Hopewell Valley,” McLaughlin, Lawver and Anzano said.
“As a group, we publicly partnered with the district to support its $36 million referendum several years ago, which promised to fund long-term capital needs while reducing increases to the school’s general operating budget. We were proud to back proposals to improve facilities, security and maintenance,” the mayors said.
McLaughlin said, “We were given assurances at the time by the board and administration that the referendum would provide a solid financial foundation for the future and help keep the school’s long-term operating budget in-check.
“The district’s own financial reports indicate it is well positioned financially, without the need for a significant operating budget increase. As an example, increases for our outstanding teachers have already been factored into the district’s operating expenses. In fact, mediated fact-finding has been completed and our teachers have shared that a deal is imminent,” McLaughlin said.
Lawver expressed concern that residents are not seeing the promised savings from the referendum and added, “There does not seem to be a pressing reason for such a large infusion of more taxpayer-funded cash.”
Anzano said, “I am concerned about the school budget and its effects on Hopewell Borough residents for the upcoming school year and beyond. There is a spending trend that is difficult to justify, in my opinion.”
The mayors said the increase in spending is not needed because the district has lower enrollment.
“According to the 2019 enrollment report for the Hopewell Valley regional schools, 291 seniors will be graduating this year and in fall 210 kindergartners will enter district schools. Unless dramatic move-ins occur over the summer, there will be 80 (2.4%) fewer students roaming the halls of our schools,” they said.
“This compounds a multi-year trend that has seen district enrollment fall by over 500 students. Spending significantly more taxpayer money on fewer enrolled students is not responsible and higher taxes may very well contribute to additional enrollment declines in the years ahead,” McLaughlin, Lawver and Anzano said.
In response to the mayors’ statement, Superintendent of Schools Thomas Smith said the school district’s administration took no pleasure in delivering the 2019-20 budget.
“It is a difficult time for school districts in New Jersey. If we did not have the ability to access that additional funding in this budget cycle, we would be in the same situation as other districts who have had to do massive layoffs,” Smith said.
“This is not over for us. This budget is not the answer for us, but it does provide a solid footing to move forward,” he said.
Smith said the pay for district staff members is in excess of the 2% tax levy cap.
“We are going to have to end up making reductions along the line. I see my goal as making a budget that provides an excellent education to students in Hopewell Valley. Part of our role is to protect the services and programs we have built,” the superintendent said.
“The school district has been quite successful and I think we are on a positive trajectory moving up, but we also have to prepare a budget that prepares us for the future,” Smith said.