Northern Burlington County Regional school board and elected officials agree to reduce school budget, which was rejected by voters last month.
By: William Wichert
After voters rejected its $30.6 million budget last month, the Northern Burlington County Regional school board and elected officials from the four sending municipalities tentatively agreed Tuesday night to cut $250,000 from the financial package.
Most officials wanted to leave the budget alone, but the push for cuts was led by the Township Committee of Mansfield Township, the only municipality to see a tax rate increase in the proposed budget and the only one to defeat that proposal in the recent school election.
NBCR Superintendent James Sarruda showed images of students to the background music of Louis Armstrong’s "It’s a Wonderful World" and Springfield Township officials spoke of a "social contract" to fund public education without budget cuts, but Mansfield representatives said they were acting on behalf of the senior citizens in their township.
"It’s not fair on the seniors who pay their whole lives and have to pay again," said Mansfield Mayor Arthur Puglia. "We’re getting punished for having seniors in our town."
For Mansfield senior citizens, this $250,000 cut will translate into a 1.9-cent reduction in the 10.7-cent tax rate increase they were slated to receive in the proposed budget.
Under the new tax rate of $1.169 per $100 of assessed property value, owners of a home assessed at the township average of $168,000 will now be faced with a regional school tax bill of $1,963.92, an increase of $147.84 over last year. This figure means an annual savings of $31.92 over the original budget proposal, or $2.66 per month.
The revised budget also brings bigger tax rate decreases (when compared to the defeated budget) for the other three municipalities.
Chesterfield Township residents will see a 3.8-cent tax rate decrease and a new rate of $1.063 per every $100 of assessed property value, meaning a savings of $80.56 and an annual bill of $2,253.56 for the owners of a home assessed at the township average of $212,000.
North Hanover Township is set to receive a tax rate decrease of 3.1 cents for a new rate of 94.4 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The owners of a home assessed at the township average of $150,000 will see a savings of $46.50 and an overall bill of $1,416.
The tax rate in Springfield will go down by 54 cents to 69.2 cents per $100 of assessed value. For owners of a home assessed at the township average of $323,500, the new rate means a new tax bill of $2,238.62. The tax rate, however, does not necessarily equal a tax savings for Springfield residents, because the assessed values of homes changed under a recent reassessment.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the governing bodies of Springfield and North Hanover townships approved Mansfield’s resolution to cut the school budget by $250,000. Chesterfield officials did not vote on the resolution, because they did not have enough representatives at the meeting.
The Chesterfield Township Committee is expected to approve the resolution at its meeting on Thursday, and the school board would then certify the revised budget at its May 16 meeting. If the board does not certify the budget by May 19, the decision to cut funds in any way is put in the hands of the state Department of Education commissioner.
Chesterfield Mayor Larry Durr said the Mansfield officials should have selected a specific item to cut from the budget, not just a dollar figure.
"I think that’s more responsible (than) to pick a number out of a hat to satisfy your voters," said Mayor Durr. "How can you cut a budget when you don’t know where you want to cut it from?"
Mansfield officials said earlier that they would leave that decision up to the school board, and NBCR Business Administrator Richard Kaz said the $250,000 cut could be made by postponing plans to replace part of the high school’s roof, where there have been some leaking problems. This postponement, however, could jeopardize the district’s eligibility to receive up to $400,000, or 60 percent of the project’s costs, in state aid, said Mr. Kaz.
North Hanover Committeewoman Nancy Morrow questioned whether the cuts would have an effect on the district’s reinstatement of the 5:30 p.m. bus run, which was cut in 2002, but Dr. Sarruda said they would not.
Standing below a screen detailing the district’s budget facts earlier in the meeting, Dr. Sarruda explained how the district has managed to keep its expenses down in light of harsher state demands to cap spending.
"Northern Burlington is very proud. We do not overspend," said Dr. Sarruda, noting that the district’s per-pupil cost of $11,917 is below the state average of $12,027.
The state’s demand to cap spending at lower limits comes at a time when it is not increasing aid amounts to districts like Northern Burlington, which has experienced a growth in student enrollment, said Dr. Sarruda. This scenario places more of a tax burden on the municipalities, including Mansfield, where most of the new students are coming from, he said.
"Mansfield is virtually the only district that’s growing," said Dr. Sarruda, adding that higher taxes in the township are a byproduct of student growth. "As a school superintendent, it just tells me that the formula (for funding regional school districts) works."
Mayor Puglia, however, said the township’s residents need some help, especially since the municipality is the district’s host town and also is spending about $1.4 million to reconstruct Mansfield Road East, the main road to the school buildings.
Making cuts to a school budget still should not be an arbitrary decision, said Springfield Township Committeeman David Frank, whose constituents approved the budget.
"We all have to work together as a community and I think that’s what the people of Springfield understand," said Mr. Frank. "The idea of proposing cuts for the purpose of proposing cuts is not meeting (that) social contract and, to me, that’s wrong."
Springfield Deputy Mayor Denis McDaniel added: "I’m sure all the communities have senior citizens. Senior citizens are not the only ones affected by the school budget."
Ida Tyson, a Mansfield resident, told the officials that those comments were very encouraging to her, because she is parent. "I also don’t think we should penalize our students," she said. "Someone’s going to lose here."