Several adjustments to the Millstone Township School District’s proposed 2013-14 school year budget were made just prior to the board’s adoption of the spending plan at a meeting on March 21.
According to Business Administrator Bernard Biesiada, the 2013-14 budget was trimmed from a proposed $37.1 million to an approved $36.8 million.
The proposed $30.1 million local tax levy to support the budget was revised down to $29.9 million.
Biesiada said the reductions in the total budget and the tax levy were made possible when the board reduced the proposed general fund appropriations for 2013-14 by $267,495.
The general fund appropriations make up the annual operating budget for the school district. The general fund is separate from the district’s debt service budget. The two budgets combined produce the total budget.
Biesiada said trimming the general fund by $267,495 allowed the board to achieve its goal of holding the general fund tax levy stable at $26.3 million for the fourth consecutive year.
The business administrator said the reduction has to do with tuition refunds and adjustments due from the Upper Freehold Regional School District. Millstone sends its high school students to Allentown High School in the UFRSD.
Several weeks ago, the board introduced a budget proposing a $26.6 million general fund tax levy for 2013-14, but that figure has now been sliced to $26.37 million.
The remainder of the local tax levy ($3.5 million) helps to pay the district’s debt service (outstanding loans).
As a result of the March 21 reduction in the general fund tax levy, Millstone’s school tax rate, instead of increasing from $1.90 to $1.93 per $100 of assessed valuation as proposed, will increase to $1.92.
The average home in Millstone is now assessed at $451,000, which is an increase from the average assessment of $450,200 that was in place for 2012-13.
With a school tax rate of $1.92 in place, a person who owns a home that is assessed at $451,000 will pay about $8,659 in school taxes in 2013-14 ($1.92 x 4,510).
If that individual’s home was assessed at $450,200 in 2012-13 with a school tax rate of $1.90 in place, the school tax bill came to about $8,554 ($1.90 x 4,502).
Millstone residents pay more or less in school taxes depending on the assessment of the property they own.
School taxes are one component of a property owner’s total tax bill. In addition to school taxes, property owners also pay Millstone municipal taxes, Monmouth County taxes and other assessments.
In 2013-14, Millstone will see a decrease in the tuition it is charged by the Upper Freehold Regional School District to send its high school students to Allentown High School. The per-pupil tuition will drop from $12,295 in 2012-13 to $12,000 in 2013-14, according to Biesiada.
Enrollment in the Millstone K-8 district is expected to remain flat at 1,331 pupils in the upcoming school year, the business administrator said. Contact Mark Rosman at [email protected].