By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
A $128.1 million school budget was unanimously approved by the Hillsborough Township Board of Education during its meeting on Monday, bringing with it an increase to the average homeowner’s taxes in the process., Prior to the board’s vote on the budget, board member Judith Haas praised the spending plan for what she described as a concerted effort to funnel tax dollars into the classroom., “It’s always an awesome task to put together a budget that balances the needs of a wide variety of students and takes care of our staff appropriately,” Haas said. “To me, the most important thing about a budget is that it’s a statement of our values.”, The budget marks a 3.93 percent increase, approximately $4.85 million, from the 2016-17 budget total of approximately $123.5 million., In order to support its spending plan, the district will collect approximately $93.8 million in taxes, marking a 3.69 percent increase from the previous year’s tax levy of $90.5 million., As a result of the rising tax levy, the tax rate in Hillsborough will go from $1.595 per $100 of assessed property value for the 2016-17 school year to $1.605 per $100 of assessed property value in the new school budget for 2017-18. The tax rate increase marks a 0.65 percent bump., Last year, the average household assessed value in Hillsborough was $371,718. At that value, the property owner paid approximately $5,928 in school taxes. If that same house was then valued at the 2017 average of $377,318, the homeowner will now pay $6,056 in school taxes. Under those circumstances, this year’s tax rate increase marks a $128 year-to-year increase., For homeowners in Millstone who send their children to the Hillsborough Township School District, their tax levy will see a 3.9 percent increase of approximately $904,000 in the 2016-17 school year to more than $939,000 in the proposed 2017-18 budget., The tax rate in Millstone is also going up, from 1.689 per $100 of assessed value in 2016-17 to 1.748 per $100 of assessed value, or a 3.02 percent increase., Last year, the average household assessed value was $318,768. At that value, the property owner paid approximately $5,384. If that same house was then valued at the 2017 average of $316,858, the homeowner will pay approximately $5,539, marking an increase of approximately $155., Along with the increase in tax revenue, the board is taking a healthcare waiver, covering $674,341. In order to offset that, Schiff said that there will be reductions to the assistant superintendent’s budget and the surplus, while some expenses will be moved under the Federal Title II grant’s purview., The district also has over $807,000 in banked cap funds from previous budgets., According to officials, the general fund will increase by $4.6 million, from $118.3 million in 2016-17 to $122.9 million in 2017-18, while the district’s grants and entitlements fund will see a 14.8 percent reduction from $1.99 million in 2016-17 to $1.7 million in the 2017-18 budget., Just as in previous years, the district is receiving approximately $25 million in state aid for the next year., The budget also sees a nearly 17 percent increase to the district’s debt service, going from $3.175 million in 2016-17 to $3.7 million in the proposed 2017-18 budget., During the budget’s introduction, Schiff said the 3.89 percent increase of the general fund was an “artificual increase of the budget” since it reflects “pulling out money from the cap reserve and putting it into the general fund in order to pay for the debt that we have for the paving at the middle school, as well as the turf field.”, Officials touted the budget as a way to fund a number of new additions and upgrades for the school district, including: new English language arts materials, supplies, curriculum writing and training; funding the replacement of Chromebooks in grades K-2; and funding the district’s American Sign Language program, which started this year., Schiff also said the budget also allows the district to maintain class sizes and programs., In addition to adding positions in the current budget that will be “rolling up” into next year’s budget, which included one full-time and one part-time special education teachers, a part-time preschool teacher and seven instructional assistants, the proposed budget includes the addition of 4.5 new positions., Those positions, Schiff said, were one full-time and one part-time special education teachers and three new instructional assistances., Since the budget was introduced back in March, changes were made that allowed for the hiring of three additional guidance counselors for the district’s elementary schools., As it stands, the district employs three counselors to serve its six elementary schools. With the additional staff, officials said the counseling needs of the schools’ students and staff will be more easily addressed., In order to make room for those additions, officials said one tech coach and one transitional primary (TP) teaching position will be eliminated., District spokeswoman Kia Bergman asserted that the budget would still not bring any staff reductions with it, as the changes would be made “with existing personnel based on enrollment fluctuation.”, In order to help the district manage costs, Schiff said the district utilized an Energy Savings Improvement Plan (ESIP), which brought about some cost reductions due to the use of more efficient lighting and HVAC systems, which resulted in a rebate being paid out to the district., Schiff also said the district was able to maintain its costs due to continued employee contributions to their healthcare. The district is also expecting a five percent reduction in transportation costs due to the use of new routing software by the district., Along with those cost saving measures, the district also generates approximately $200,000 in revenue through the district’s Children At Play (CAP) program, which helps to offset other costs in the budget., Changes in the collective bargaining agreement with the Hillsborough Education Association in relation to long-term substitute teachers were also touted as a way the district is managing its costs. Under the newly agreed terms, long-term substitute teachers will no longer be compensated at the same rate as newly hired teachers.
