BY GLORIA STRAVELLU
Staff Writer
The Amerigo Anastasia Elementary School under construction. Voters will go to the polls armed with facts and figures when they queue up for the Ocean Township school budget election April 17.
According to Ocean Township School District Business Administrator Kenneth Jannarone, a public hearing and two budget presentations on the district’s $65.7 million spending plan for 2007-2008 will lead up to the election, in which voters will also cast ballots for three school board members.
A public hearing on the proposed school budget will be held March 27 beginning at 8 p.m. at the district administration building at 163 Monmouth Road, Jannarone said.
In addition, two budget presentation meetings will be held next month at Ocean Township elementary and middle schools.
According to Jannarone, the $65.7 million school budget calls for a local tax levy of $49.4 million. That would equate to 4.35 cents per $100 of assessed valuation if the budget is approved by voters.
For the owner of the average Ocean Township home assessed at $445,000, that would mean an increase of $193.54 in taxes annually, Jannarone said.
According to Jannarone, the budget reflects fiscal restraint.
“The change is 3.9 percent from last year. That’s below the {state- mandated} 4 percent cap,” he said. “The new law allows districts certain waivers to exceed the 4 percent cap and we are not utilizing any of them.”
The school district is doing its part to communicate with taxpayers about the upcoming school budget election, Jannarone said.
Superintendent of Schools Thomas M. Pagano will address questions and concerns related to the school budget election at budget presentation meetings hosted by the schools’ PTAs.
The first meeting will take place at the Ocean Township Intermediate School, 1200 W. Park Ave., Wayside, on Wednesday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m.
A second meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m. at Ocean Township Elementary School, Dow Avenue, Wanamassa.
Due to scheduling difficulties, The Village of Loch Arbour will not hold a budget presentation meeting. Residents are urged to attend one of the scheduled PTA meetings.
Ocean Township taxpayers will also vote April 17 for candidates to fill three seats on the nine-member Board of Education. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Three incumbents are running unopposed for re-election.
Two board members, Angela Finch, Cambridge Way, Wayside, and Cherie Roebuck, Finderne Street, Oakhurst, were appointed to one-year unexpired terms and are each seeking election for a full, three-year term on the board. Incumbent Raymond Menell, Logan Road, Wanamassa, is seeking re-election to the board.
Additional information, including school budget fact sheets, is available at: www.ocean.k12.nj.us.
The last day to register to vote by mail is Tuesday, March 27 (must be postmarked on or before March 27).
Voter registration forms are available at the main office within each school building. Forms are also available at the Office of Special Projects (Administration Building), 163 Monmouth Rd., Oakhurst, (732) 531-5600 ext. 3402; at the office of the Superintendent of Elections, 300 Halls Mill Rd., Freehold, (732) 431-7785; at Town Hall, 399 Monmouth Rd., Oakhurst, (732) 531-5000; and at the Village of Loch Arbour Municipal Office, 550 Main St., (732) 531-4740.
The last day to apply for an absentee ballot application by mail is Tuesday, April 10. The last day to fill out an absentee ballot in person at the office of the Superintendent of Elections is Monday, April 16, before 3 p.m.