Without hard and fast numbers from the governor as to the level of aid that will be delivered from Trenton for the coming school year, the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education has introduced a tentative budget of $187.6 million.
The board introduced the tentative spending plan for the 2010-11 school year on March 1 at Howell High School. The budget may be revised up until a public hearing is held and the board formally adopts the budget. A public hearing and the vote to adopt the budget will occur later this month.
On April 20, residents of the FRHSD’s eight sending municipalities will vote on the tax levy that district administrators say is needed to support the school district in the coming year. Each sending municipality provides its own amount of local property taxes to support the operation of the school district.
State aid amounts that will be provided to New Jersey’s school districts in 2010-11 are expected to be available on March 18, several days after the governor gives his budget address.
FRHSD Assistant Superintendent and Business Administrator Sean Boyce told members of the public on March 1 that the district’s tentative budget projects a flat amount of state aid next year.
Gov. Chris Christie has warned school administrators that a cut of between 10 to 20 percent in state aid may be forthcoming in 2010-11. Such a cut, according to the presentation made by Boyce, could result in a $5.4 million to $10.8 million reduction to the FRHSD.
In an article that was published on March 4, acting Education Commissioner Bret Schundler said Christie is trying to keep school districts at the amount of aid they received in 2009-10.
However, school districts will not receive all of the state aid they were promised in 2009-10, since Christie is withholding aid payments from now through June in order to close a gap in the state’s current budget.
Schundler’s comments did not state if Christie is trying to keep the 2010-11 school funding at the promised 2009-10 level or at the level that school districts will actually receive this year.
The FRHSD’s $187.6 million tentative budget contains a $179.7 general fund. The general fund will rely on the collection of $121.5 million in local property taxes, and that is the amount residents will vote on in the April 20 election.
The FRHSD’s budget for 2009-10 amounted to $180.1 million and included a $112.8 million general fund tax levy.
The projected amount to be collected in local property taxes for 2010-11 is up $8.7 million from the district’s 2009-10 budget.
The increase in the tax levy amounts to 7.8 percent over 2009-10 and includes a 4 percent increase by which the district is permitted to raise the tax levy and an automatic 3.8 percent health insurance increase waiver, which Boyce said he included in the tentative budget.
District administrators said they have been looking at long-term and short-term options to help with the formation of the coming school year’s budget. There are no capital improvement projects in the budget, Boyce said.
After receiving notification that the district’s health insurance provider was projecting a 20 percent increase, Boyce announced that administrators are seeking quotes from other carriers.
Salaries and benefits equaled an $11 million increase, Boyce reported. He also said areas in transportation and extracurricular activities are being looked at in terms of their costs.
He gave after-school busing as an example of an area being reviewed, specifically what days have the most activities. Boyce said administrators could review the possibility of running a late bus Tuesday through Thursday if Monday and Friday prove to be light on after-school events.
“All of those decisions and evaluations are going to have consequences, but we are going to need to make decisions and make the best decisions we can,” Boyce told members of the Board of Education.
If the budget is eventually adopted as it has been introduced, and if residents approve the tax levy in the April 20 election, residents in the majority of the eight sending municipalities will see their FRHSD school taxes increase for the 2010-11 year.
• Englishtown residents will see the FRHSD tax rate increase 2.67 cents to 33.17 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That is an $88 increase for the owner of a home assessed at $331,000.
• Farmingdale residents will see the FRHSD tax rate decrease 3.09 cents to 28.96 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That is a $92 decrease for the owner of a home assessed at $300,000.
• Freehold Borough residents will see the FRHSD tax rate increase 1.02 cents to 39.58 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That is a $26 increase for the owner of a home assessed at $257,000.
• Freehold Township residents will see the FRHSD tax rate increase 3.36 cents to 41.14 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That is a $134 increase for the owner of a home assessed at $400,000.
• Howell residents will see the FRHSD tax rate increase 3.18 cents to 40.17 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That is a $112 increase for the owner of a home assessed at $355,000.
• Manalapan residents will see the FRHSD tax rate increase 4.13 cents to 45.17 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That is an increase of $165 to for the owner of a home assessed at $400,000.
• Marlboro residents will see the FRHSD tax rate increase 2.46 cents to 40.49 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That is a $110 increase for the owner of a home assessed at $450,000.
Because of a revaluation in Colts Neck, that municipality’s numbers were unavailable at the time of the March 1 presentation, Boyce said.
Marlboro’s and Manalapan’s prior tax rate was converted to a revaluation basis for purposes of comparison.
No possible cuts to staffing levels or programs were presented to the public on March 1.
Former board member BonnieSue Rosenwald of Marlboro questioned the lack of information regarding possible cuts in programming or staff. She said residents want that information.
Superintendent of Schools James Wasser said that information was not provided on March 1 because it would be unconscionable to do so and possibly upset the public when final numbers are not yet known.
“I will tell you the last thing on the list that we are looking at as far as cutting is the instructional program and staffing,” Wasser said.
A public hearing on the 2010-11 school year budget is scheduled for March 22 at the FRHSD administrative offices in Englishtown.