COLTS NECK — The Colts Neck K-8 School District Board of Education has adopted a budget for the 2013-14 school year that provides for the hiring of security personnel and the establishment of a full-day kindergarten program.
The board recently adopted the $23.2 million spending plan, with a local tax levy of $20.9 million. Funds collected through residential and commercial property taxes make up the tax levy.
The school district’s 2012-13 budget amounted to $23.3 million and was supported by a $20.85 million local tax levy, according to a previously published News Transcript article.
According to information provided by the district, the budget for the upcoming school year falls within the state-mandated 2 percent tax levy cap. The board could have exceeded the cap by $1.4 million, but chose not to, according to the district.
Despite the board’s fiscal restraint in that aspect of the budget, the 2013-14 school tax rate is expected to rise from 68 cents to 68.6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, according to a presentation by Business Administrator John Paredes.
That means the owner of a home assessed at the 2013 township average of $829,410 will pay $5,690 in K-8 school taxes in 2013- 14. The owner of that home paid $5,640 in school taxes in 2012-13.
According to the presentation, the general fund totals $21.3 million, with a $19.4 million tax levy. Debt services falls just short of $1.7 million, with a $1.5 million tax levy.
District officials expect state aid to remain flat at $978,968 in the 2013-14 school year.
At a previous meeting, the board voted to withdraw $145,000 from a capital reserve account to be set aside for various projects, including the replacement of front doors at the Conover Road Elementary School and the Cedar Drive Middle School, a new roof for the administration building, and a new water main at the middle school.
The budget provides for security personnel to safeguard the schools and a full-day kindergarten program, according to the district.
District officials battled a two-year loss of $31 million in assessed valuation in Colts Neck to make possible the capital improvements, educational program expansions and security upgrades, according to information provided by the district.
Colts Neck’s K-8 district is expected to serve 1,027 students as of October 2013. According to municipal officials, data collected during the most recent U.S. Census pegs Colts Neck’s population at 10,142 residents.
— Jack Murtha