Matawan-Aberdeen OKs school budget cuts

Published in the Asbury Park Press 05/19/05

BY JUSTIN VELLUCCI
KEYPORT BUREAU

The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District will slash $765,000 - but not cut funding for any educational programs - from a $56.9 million budget defeated by voters April 19.

The cuts account for less than 2 percent of the local tax levy, which will drop from $40,860,643 to $40,095,643. That translates into a school tax rate increase of 13.89 cents per $100 of assessed property value in Aberdeen and 5.9 cents per $100 of assessed property value in Matawan, Business Administrator and board Secretary Laura Venter said.

Aberdeen's 13.9-cent increase represents a 4.32 percent hike from last year's taxes, and Matawan's 5.9-cent increase is a 1.95 percent hike, Venter said.

Originally, the proposed school budget came with a tax rate increase of 16.98 cents in Aberdeen and 8.7 cents in Matawan.

Both Aberdeen Township Council and Matawan Borough Council approved the adjusted tax rates Tuesday night. At least one Aberdeen resident, however, felt the two governing bodies didn't cut deeply enough.

"Sometimes you've got to say no to your children," said Bill Dunphy, who declined to provide his age. "You can't give them everything they want."

The school district will spend $1 million from its surplus - compared to the originally proposed $750,000 - to help fund the 2005-06 budget. Superintendent Bruce Quinn said recent teacher negotiations played a big role in being able to trim the budget without trimming student programs.

Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District will save about $600,000 when teachers switch from coverage under Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Oxford Health Plans in the 2005-06 school year, Venter said. The teachers' union and the school district settled terms of their new agreement after the budget already had been defeated.

While the towns could not overturn two public questions defeated by voters last month, they did put $122,500 into the 2005-06 budget for one of the question's proposed purchases - security improvements at district schools, Matawan Business Administrator Brian Valentino said.

"We thought . . . that was money well-spent in the long term," said Valentino, citing the Labor Day fire at Matawan Avenue Middle School.

Aberdeen Mayor David G. Sobel said Wednesday officials are in a tough spot when evaluating the budget - caught between the tax impact and the district's needs.

"The bottom line is that in no way do you want any proposed cuts to impact the thorough and efficient education that the kids deserve," Sobel said.

The $765,000 cut, given the size of the district's budget, is roughly on par with what other New Jersey municipalities have taken out of defeated budgets, Venter said. The New Jersey Association of School Business Officials estimated that towns recommended an average cut of 2.11 percent in defeated 2004-05 budgets, she said.

Quinn said Wednesday he's glad to see the defeated budget come to a resolution.

"If you can get a settlement that's amiable between the parties (and) achieves tax relief, and have it work off the cost-containment efforts that the board achieved without having to really affect programs, I think that's a win for everybody," he said.

Justin Vellucci: (732) 888-2617 or jvellucci@app.com