Matawan-Aberdeen plan would increase taxes

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/9/06

BY BRIAN LEE
KEYPORT BUREAU

ABERDEEN — If a preliminary budget is approved, the owner of a home assessed at $150,000 in Aberdeen could see school taxes increase by about $274; taxes would go up by $235 on a $150,000 home in Matawan.

Using last year's state-aid figure of just under $11 million, Matawan-Aberdeen's Regional Board of Education submitted its tentative 2006-07 school budget to the Monmouth County superintendent on Wednesday — a total of $59,137,261, with a tax levy request of $45,570,422, including debt service.

It translates to a projected school tax rate in Aberdeen of $3.538 per $100 of assessed property value, an increase of 18.25 cents, or 5.4 percent, from last year. In Matawan, the rate would be $3.24 per $100 of assessed property value, an increase of 15.68 cents, or 5 percent.

At Monday night's meeting before about 40 residents, Superintendent Bruce Quinn said all existing educational programs and services were spared while remaining under cap.

A total of $1.45 million was rationed for capital outlays, or school facilities projects. The budget sets aside funding for a significant athletic facilities upgrade.

The preliminary budget was approved, 6-0, with board members Carolyn Williams, Charles Kenny and Lawrence O'Connell absent.

Board member Kenneth Aitken's yes vote came with a strong caveat: he said he was uncomfortable setting aside funding for athletic facilities without having received bids.

Officials want to replace the regional high school's worn-out grass football field with synthetic turf, similar to surfaces at Middletown High School South and all three public high schools in Toms River.

In January, ground was broken for a similar project at Holmdel High School, while Hazlet officials recently authorized installing turf at Raritan High School.

The Matawan-Aberdeen project also calls for resurfacing its track, and putting up lights for night competition.

Quinn said the athletic project would raise taxes by a penny this year, with a penny carried over four years. The surface, estimated at $700,000 to $750,000, would pay for itself after nine years and will last as long as 12 years, he said.

Conversely, Quinn said, installing grass would raise taxes 2 cents this year, and the downside is that it requires expensive re-sodding and continual maintenance.

The superintendent said a synthetic surface would put Aberdeen in position for a $400,000 Green Acres grant, a model successfully used in other communities to lower the tax rate. He said Aberdeen Mayor David Sobel was receptive of applying for the grant on behalf of the district.

Quinn also proposed a number of educational modifications:

Employing a counselor for students in kindergarten through third grade to help students whose difficult home circumstances affect classroom performance.

Also at the elementary level, Quinn wants to add a fourth librarian; three currently cover four schools.

Bolstering the middle school's exploratory program, with a keyboarding program for sixth-graders, and a research library skills component for seventh-graders. Quinn said better keyboarding skills would increase computer usage.

At the high school level, officials are also looking at creating an on-site alternative school, as the district pays tuition and transportation for each "disaffected student" who is not classified and is sent out of the district.

"We've put it in as a break-even proposition," Quinn said.

New athletic programs are also slated: in the middle school, field hockey, cross country and track; and at the high school, boys and girls freshman soccer teams.

Meanwhile, four items deemed "low priority" were erased from the tentative budget — a world language teacher for elementary grades, the implementation of high-school girls lacrosse and volleyball programs, and upgrading gymnastics from pay-as-you-go to fully funded.