Lakewood board proposes
$95 million ’04-05 budget
BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer

LAKEWOOD — The Board of Edu-cation has introduced a $95 million budget for the 2004-05 school year that carries a 14.7-cent increase in the school tax rate.

Residents will vote on the budget in the April 20 school election. If the budget is rejected it will be sent to the Township Committee for review. The committee can recommend cuts in the budget or leave it as the board proposed.

When asked on Tuesday why voters would approve a 14.7-cent increase this year when they defeated a 14-cent increase last year, Superintendent of Schools Ernest Cannava said the board had no choice.

"We have to build a budget that we think is appropriate for our children," he said. "Certain costs — special education and tuition for out-of-district programs — have risen dramatically. Because of the state funding formula, we don’t get our fair share."

The board is asking residents to approve a local tax levy of $54.8 million to support the $95 million budget. The 2003-04 budget amounted to $87.9 million and carried a tax levy of $47.5 million.

The portion of the school tax rate on which residents vote will rise from $1.70 to $1.85 per $100 of assessed valuation, according to Kathryn Fuoto, the district’s business administrator. That means the owner of a home as­sessed at $100,000 will see his school tax bill rise from about $1,700 to about $1,850 in the coming year. The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 will see the school tax rise from about $3,400 to about $3,700.

Two of the largest line items in the budget are transportation — rising from $8.4 million to $9.9 million — and special education — rising from $5.7 million to $6.1 million.

Cannava defended the budget at Monday’s meeting, saying, "There is no fat in this budget."

Board President Chet Galdo discussed the district’s finances last month, saying, "For what we do for what we don’t get, we run a pretty efficient school district. We only get $814 per student in state aid. It’s continually costing us more money to run the schools."

According to the school district, en­rollment has grown from 4,941 pupils in 1990-91 to 5,411 pupils in 2003-04.

Board Vice President Norman Bellin-ger said the state is only increasing its aid to the district by 3 percent in 2004-05. He said federally man­dated programs will cost more to fund. He also said the township has a large number of children whose special needs require additional money. Still, he expressed the hope that taxpayers would understand the district’s dilemma and support its stewardship by voting for the budget that has been presented.

"The taxpayer, as usual, is going to have to fund what the state does not," said Bellinger. "I’m a taxpayer, too, but every­thing goes up."

The board will hold a public hearing on the budget on March 29 at 6:30 p.m. The board’s March 22 meeting has been canceled.