Mat-Ab submits tentative budget
Tax rate could rise 18 cents in Aberdeen, 16 cents in Matawan
BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer
The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District submitted a tentative 2006-07 school budget to the Monmouth County superintendent of schools that would significantly raise the tax rate from last year.
If adopted by the board and passed by voters in its current form, the $59.1 million tentative budget would raise the tax rate 18.25 cents per $100 assessed property value for Aberdeen homeowners and 15.68 cents for the in Matawan. The school tax rate rose 13.89 cents in Aberdeen last year and 5.91 cents in Matawan.
If approved, the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 in Aberdeen would pay an added $364.98 this year, and their Matawan counterparts would pay $313.67 more this year.
Schools Superintendent Bruce Quinn said that all numbers are still tentative because the state has yet to officially provide a number for how much aid will be given to each district. Quinn said they are using the $11 million figure from last year and are pretty much operating "in the dark" when it comes to state aid and a final spending cap number.
He did speculate that the state aid figure is likely to remain flat, as it has in previous years, which due to the rising cost of teacher salaries and health care costs amounts to a loss of money each year.
"We don't have a lot of things the state would give us for budget preparation," Quinn said at the meeting. "It seems apparent that we will not get additional state aid."
According to the district Business Administrator Charles Shay, the local tax levy for the general fund will be $43,144,422 with $2,426,000 in debt service for a total of $45,570,422.
Quinn told members of the public at a special budget meeting held on March 6 that under this budget, all existing programs will remain unchanged and will not incur any cuts.
Some additional programs would be created, the largest of which is the proposed lease-purchase program that would replace the high school field with synthetic turf as well as replace the track surface and the field lighting. The funding would come from a $1.45 million capital outlay built into the final budget.
"Our field has got into terrible shape," Quinn said. "One way or another it won't survive another season."
The budget passed 6-0 with board members Lawrence O'Connell, Carolyn Williams and Charles Kenny absent from the meeting.
Board member Ken Aitken said that he was initially unwilling to vote yes for the new field expense without having received bids. Aitken was assured that this was simply a tentative budget and in no way binding.
Also in the budget are a counselor for students in grades K-3 to deal with crises at home or in school. A librarian would also be added, so that each school would have at least one full-time librarian. Keyboarding classes for sixth-graders and library skills classes for seventh-graders are included in the tentative budget.
New sports programs like field hockey, cross country and track at the middle school level, and freshman soccer at the high school level are also being proposed.
The district also plans to create an alternative school for students in grades seven to 12 with special needs, who are currently sent out of district at the district's expense. Quinn said that this could save the district money.
Not in the budget are a new world languages teacher and funding for girls lacrosse, volleyball and gymnastics, which will remain a pay-as-you-go program, Quinn said.
Shay said that the large hike in the tax rate is a result of the state's S-1701 regulations that required the district to dump a large portion of their surplus into the operating budget, causing an artificially low increase last year. This year's numbers show the tax rate readjusting itself.
The Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the budget March 27 at the Cambridge Park School starting at 8 p.m. President Kathy Zavorskas urged the public to attend the meeting and weigh in on the budget, which has been publicly defeated for the past four years.
"We really need to know what's on your mind," Zavorskas said.
Tax rate could rise 18 cents in Aberdeen, 16 cents in Matawan
BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer
The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District submitted a tentative 2006-07 school budget to the Monmouth County superintendent of schools that would significantly raise the tax rate from last year.
If adopted by the board and passed by voters in its current form, the $59.1 million tentative budget would raise the tax rate 18.25 cents per $100 assessed property value for Aberdeen homeowners and 15.68 cents for the in Matawan. The school tax rate rose 13.89 cents in Aberdeen last year and 5.91 cents in Matawan.
If approved, the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 in Aberdeen would pay an added $364.98 this year, and their Matawan counterparts would pay $313.67 more this year.
Schools Superintendent Bruce Quinn said that all numbers are still tentative because the state has yet to officially provide a number for how much aid will be given to each district. Quinn said they are using the $11 million figure from last year and are pretty much operating "in the dark" when it comes to state aid and a final spending cap number.
He did speculate that the state aid figure is likely to remain flat, as it has in previous years, which due to the rising cost of teacher salaries and health care costs amounts to a loss of money each year.
"We don't have a lot of things the state would give us for budget preparation," Quinn said at the meeting. "It seems apparent that we will not get additional state aid."
According to the district Business Administrator Charles Shay, the local tax levy for the general fund will be $43,144,422 with $2,426,000 in debt service for a total of $45,570,422.
Quinn told members of the public at a special budget meeting held on March 6 that under this budget, all existing programs will remain unchanged and will not incur any cuts.
Some additional programs would be created, the largest of which is the proposed lease-purchase program that would replace the high school field with synthetic turf as well as replace the track surface and the field lighting. The funding would come from a $1.45 million capital outlay built into the final budget.
"Our field has got into terrible shape," Quinn said. "One way or another it won't survive another season."
The budget passed 6-0 with board members Lawrence O'Connell, Carolyn Williams and Charles Kenny absent from the meeting.
Board member Ken Aitken said that he was initially unwilling to vote yes for the new field expense without having received bids. Aitken was assured that this was simply a tentative budget and in no way binding.
Also in the budget are a counselor for students in grades K-3 to deal with crises at home or in school. A librarian would also be added, so that each school would have at least one full-time librarian. Keyboarding classes for sixth-graders and library skills classes for seventh-graders are included in the tentative budget.
New sports programs like field hockey, cross country and track at the middle school level, and freshman soccer at the high school level are also being proposed.
The district also plans to create an alternative school for students in grades seven to 12 with special needs, who are currently sent out of district at the district's expense. Quinn said that this could save the district money.
Not in the budget are a new world languages teacher and funding for girls lacrosse, volleyball and gymnastics, which will remain a pay-as-you-go program, Quinn said.
Shay said that the large hike in the tax rate is a result of the state's S-1701 regulations that required the district to dump a large portion of their surplus into the operating budget, causing an artificially low increase last year. This year's numbers show the tax rate readjusting itself.
The Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the budget March 27 at the Cambridge Park School starting at 8 p.m. President Kathy Zavorskas urged the public to attend the meeting and weigh in on the budget, which has been publicly defeated for the past four years.
"We really need to know what's on your mind," Zavorskas said.
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