Township, schools agree to restore several items

PLUMSTED - The Township Com-mittee and Board of Education unanimously approved resolutions on May 16 that upheld the decision of a majority of voters not to increase their property taxes to pay for any of the items in the three defeated separate questions on the April 17 school election ballot and, as a result, saved taxpayers $634,446.

The tax levy including debt service for the 2007-08 school year will be $10.4 million, or an increase of $987,661 from 2006-07. The total budget for the 2007-08 school year will be about $20 million.

At the same time and in the same resolutions, according to Mayor Ron Dancer, the committee and the board unanimously agreed to restore certain items with funding to come from a combination of surplus revenue, federal impact aid and unanticipated revenue, not by increased taxes.

With the assistance of Congressman Chris Smith, the school district received $948,000 in federal impact aid between late March and early May, according to Dancer. The school's final adopted budgeted fund balance includes $518,000 of the $948,000 from federal impact aid, leaving the difference of $430,000 in a reserve account.

The board and the committee unanimously agreed that the following items from the separate questions would be restored and paid for with the school budget's miscellaneous revenues and surplus - not increased taxes - saving taxpayers $521,814.

The following were among the items restored to the budget: one assistant principal, $80,250; eighth grade camping trip, $6,000; freshman sports program and coaches, $71,301; grades 6-12 school dances, $6,000; high school summer school, $3,800; basic skills busing, $8,844; K-12 field trips, $25,589; professional development, $16,650; courtesy busing program, $132,000; computers, $32,750; Smart Boards, $13,500; VGA projectors, $10,700; tech repairs, $31,196; and school security cameras, $21,238.

There was also unanimous agreement among all members of the committee and board to save taxpayers $112,632 and not restore the following items: one assistant principal; two of the 16 high school clubs; middle school junior varsity (does not exist this year/will continue the intramurals); high school swimming program (presently four students/two are graduating); and K-5 yearbooks (may continue with volunteers).

Following the recent revaluation of all properties in Plumsted, the school tax rate will drop from $2.28 per $100 of assessed valuation to 95.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. However, the decrease in the tax rate does not mean property owners will pay less in school taxes.

Prior to the property revaluation, the owner of a home assessed at $150,000 paid about $3,420 in school taxes ($2.28 x 1,500) in 2006-07.

The average home in Plumsted following the revaluation is now assessed at $386,000. With a school tax rate of 95.2 cents in place, the owner of a home assessed at $386,000 will pay approximately $3,674 in school taxes in the 2007-08 school year (.952 x 3,860).

Using that example, a resident whose home assessment increased from $150,000 to $386,000 would see an increase of $254 in school taxes in the coming year.

With a school tax rate of 95.2 cents, the owner of a home assessed at $400,000 would pay about $3,808 in school taxes in 2007-08 and the owner of a home assessed at $500,000 would pay about $4,760 in school taxes in 2007-08.

According to a press release from the school district, the board remains committed to reducing the dependence on federal impact aid as a means of balancing the school operating budget.

Presently, the board must strike a balance between the needs of the district and the use of federal impact aid, therefore the board must use some of this aid, according to the press release. School administrators said it is their intention to continue to reduce the district's reliance on federal impact aid and eventually wean the district off of it in the creation of future operating budgets.

School officials said the agreed upon school budget resolution by the board and committee provides the school district with the flexibility and options to solely determine what amounts, if any, of federal impact aid dollars are used, as well as funding items in the future with transfers, miscellaneous revenues or surplus.