www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/NEWS01/703270362/1004/NEWS01School board adopts budgets that cuts 12 jobs
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/27/07
BY NICK PETRUNCIO
FREEHOLD BUREAU
FREEHOLD — The Board of Education had to make an agonizing decision Monday: Adopt a budget that cuts staff and programs, or reject it and put the fate of the district in the hands of the borough or the state.
In the end, the board voted 6-3 to adopt the budget for the 2007-08 school year. Members Andrew DeFonzo, Frank Gill and Stella Mayes dissented.
DeFonzo told those at the meeting before the vote was taken how he would vote and why. He said the budget does not serve the students because of a lack of state funding, and the board should "stick it to the state."
However, member Annette Jordan said no one on the board wants to vote for the budget but she is not willing to give what autonomy the district has left to Trenton.
The state ultimately could make the final decision on the budget if it fails with voters. A possible consequence of that is the state officials could decide to put the cuts back into the budget, which would increase taxes by four times, according to board President James Keelan.
The board on March 12 introduced a $16.67 million budget, which cuts 12 positions and eliminates extracurricular sports and activities. The district is asking voters to approve a tax levy of $7.43 million.
The levy for the current school year is $6.7 million. The district is not allowed by state law to ask for a higher increase.
Voters on April 17 will decide whether to approve the levy.
Despite the proposed budget cuts, the tax rate would increase 7.4 cents per $100 of assessed property value, or 11 percent, over the 2006-07 school year. The current tax rate is 66.7 cents, and the proposed rate for 2007-08 is 74.1 cents. On an average home assessed at $257,714, the homeowner would pay $191 more in school taxes.
The district's staff cuts include the following positions: one art teacher, two custodians, one guidance counselor, a librarian, a math supervisor and three office assistants. In addition to sports and art, the district's music and drama programs would be affected.
Inadequate, inequitable and flat funding from the state over the years has contributed to the district's fiscal problems, district officials have said. Moreover, the district loses out on an estimated $500,000 in ratables a year because the county-owned properties in Freehold, which is the Monmouth County seat, cannot be taxed.
Assemblyman Michael J. Panter Jr., D-Monmouth, recently said at a town hall meeting held in the borough that he believes the county should contribute to the district through a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes, or PILOT, program. He had said he would support a measure by the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders so the cost of county government is borne fairly among its 53 municipalities.
However, county officials have said money is tight for the county as well and funding education is the job of the state.
District Business Administrator Veronica Wolf said the 12.7 percent boost in state aid, which was announced Feb. 26 for the upcoming school year, is too little too late to offset increased costs of items such as health care, salaries, utilities and a new state-imposed pension contribution. The district also saw a nearly $600,000 decrease in federal aid.
Keelan has said the district will fall $900 short next school year on per-pupil spending in providing a "thorough and efficient" education as stipulated in the state Constitution. The district currently falls $771 short, Keelan has said, and it needs about an additional $1 million to become constitutionally compliant.
Nick Petruncio: (732) 308-7752 or npetruncio@app.com
