Plumsted voters reject school spending proposals
BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer

PLUMSTED - The fate of school finances for the 2007-08 school year is now in the hands of the Township Committee. Residents rejected four of five budget questions the Board of Education had placed on the April 17 ballot.

Question No. 1 asked residents to vote on a tax levy of $8,922,792 to support a base budget of $19,799,710 at a tax rate increase of 7.8 cents per $100 of assessed value. This question was defeated by a count of 802 no votes to 662 yes votes. The figures were not certified as of April 18, but no change in the outcome of the election was expected.

Question No. 2 asked the public to vote on maintaining current staff and programs that includes two assistant principals, extracurricular activities and field trips, for an additional $355,371 (3.2 cents per $100 of assessed value). This question was defeated by a count of 901 no votes to 563 yes votes.

Question No. 3 asked voters to approve maintaining existing courtesy busing and a school resource officer at a cost of $162,000 (1.5 cents per $100 of assessed value). This question was defeated by a count of 883 no votes to 531 yes votes.

Question No. 4 asked the public to vote on an additional $117,075 (1.1 cents per $100 of assessed value) to fund new technology and security for the district. This question was defeated by a count of 854 no votes to 621 yes votes. This question was the only one that proposed adding items that the school district did not already have, according to Superinten-dent of Schools Gerald North.

Question No. 5 asked for $51,017 (0.5 cents per $100 of assessed value) to maintain one school nurse. This question was approved by a count of 748 yes votes to 724 no votes.

The Township Committee will now review all of the defeated spending proposals (questions 1, 2, 3 and 4). According to North, the committee members can restore any part of questions 2, 3 or 4, but if they do not restore funding for any of those items there cannot be an appeal to the state commissioner of education.

North said if the committee members take any funding out of question No. 1 (the base budget), there will be an automatic appeal to the commissioner of education.

Members of the school board will work with the Township Committee to review the school district's finances, the superintendent said.

"Our hands were tied by a new state law known as A-1 and we were forced to go to multiple questions," North said, referring to a law that limited the amount of money the school district was permitted to raise in local property taxes. "I think there was something of a confusion factor with all of the questions on the ballot. However, the overwhelming factor was the property revaluation Plumsted just went through that had people very concerned about their property taxes."

According to information previously provided by Business Administrator James Edwards, approval of the base budget (question No. 1) would have increased taxes by approximately $300 for the average home assessed at $386,000.

If all five questions on the ballot had been approved, Plumsted's school taxes would have increased by about $544 for the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $386,000.

School taxes are one part of a property owner's tax bill. Other components of the tax bill are municipal taxes, county taxes and other special assessments.