Eatontown school budget up by 3.5 cents

BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer

EATONTOWN - District taxpayers would see their property taxes rise by about 3.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation if they approve the Board of Education's budget of nearly $18.2 million for the 2006-07 academic year.

Under the revaluation carried out by the borough last year, the average property assessment is now $400,000, up from last year's average of $150,000. That higher amount takes effect in this calendar year.

With eight of its nine members present, the board adopted the budget at its March 29 meeting.

The night's agenda also included an overview of the coming school year's expenditures as presented by district Business Administrator Norma Tursi and a public hearing on the spending plan.

District voters will be asked to accept or reject the budget at the polls on April 18, which is the date for school board elections throughout New Jersey.

The adopted budget, which includes the most up-to-date state and federal aid figures, comes to a total of $18,157,425, breaking down to $17,432,596 for the general fund and $724,829 for the special revenue fund, according to documents distributed by Tursi.

The total amount to be raised by property taxes to support the budget is $12,814,970, district documents show.

The current school tax rate is $1.11 per $100 of assessed valuation. With the 3.5-cent hike, the school tax rate for the coming 2006-07 academic year will be nearly $1.15 per $100.

The owner of a property assessed at the updated borough average of $400,000 will see school taxes rise to about $4,580 yearly, up by $2,915 from last year's average of $1,665 annually.

The $4,580 amount breaks down to an average of $381.67 monthly, up by $242.92 from last year's average monthly school tax bill of $138.75.

The K-8 district, consisting of four school buildings and one central administration building, will receive $3,817,049 in total state aid in 2006-07.

That amount is $128,265 less than the $3,945,314 the district took in from Trenton in 2005-06, school board documents show.

Federal funding for government programs, including Title I and education for disabled children, will be $400,000, down by $50,000 from last year's federal contribution of $450,000, documents show.

The latest spending plan does not call for any new educational programs and keeps all existing programs at current levels, Tursi pointed out.

The budget does include salaries and benefits for two new positions in the district, a basic skills teacher and a guidance counselor, Tursi noted.

The new guidance counselor will begin working this fall and will be shared between all four schools, according to schools Superintendent Jean E. "Nina" Hoover.

In addition to providing counseling to students, the guidance counselor will also assist in the preparation of individualized education plans (IEPs), speech and language instruction, enhancement of study skills, and workshops designed to help students deal with bullying and problem solving, Hoover explained.

Some of the budget's larger items are contracted salaries at $10,421,938; benefits at $2,567,101; operation and maintenance of plant services at $1,722,122; and student transportation at $978,780, according to district documents.

The budget does not carry any debt service for the $29.8 million bond construction referendum that was approved by a total vote of 482-401 on March 14.

Taxpayers are to pick up $18.1 million of those costs, with the New Jersey Department of Education picking up $11.7 million, or about 40 percent of the total cost.

Payment on the debt service for the referendum is expected to begin with the 2007-08 budget, district officials have said.

Unlike other school districts in the county, Eatontown's board managed to craft a spending plan with only a single-digit tax increase rather than a double-digit increase, said board member Fred Naimoli, who chairs the insurance and finance subcommittee.

"We're one of the few school districts in Monmouth County to offer that," Naimoli said.

The Eatontown district consists of three elementary schools housing kindergarten through sixth grade, and one middle school holding seventh- and eighth-graders.

Current enrollment in the four schools equals 1,144, according to figures supplied during the board meeting. Of that number, 996 come from within Eatontown and 148 are students residing with their families stationed at Fort Monmouth.

On a matter related to the referendum, Board Attorney Dennis Collins announced that he and the district's architect, Robert Garrison, along with Ronald J. Ianoale, the architect's bond counsel, are putting together a presentation on the next phases of construction, which is due to begin this summer.

The presentation, dealing with the construction itself and legal matters, will take place at a future board meeting, Collins said.