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Voters Cast Ballots On School Budget Next Tuesday
By Lauren Puglisi
Next week, Manchester voters will cast ballots to approve or deny the 2008-2009 school budget.
Business Administrator Peter Corigliano presented the general funds budget for the 2008-2009 school year at $43.96 million, and the total budget, which includes debt services, at $47.1 million.
The school district's proposed budget calls for an anticipated 3.6-cent tax rate increase per $100 of assessed property value on a home. That means if the budget is approved, a homeowner with a home assessed at $100,000 would pay $36 more per year, or $3 a month more, in school property taxes.
If the budget fails, it would be sent to the Township Council for review and revision.
Board of Education Finance Chair Donald Webster Jr. said in Manchester's district news letter that much of the increase reflects dramatic increases in basic fixed operational costs.
Those costs include: fuel and utilities, property and liability insurance, textbooks and educational supplies, special education services for special needs children, health insurance and additional unfunded state and federal mandates.
"Our school tax rate will continue to remain lower than the rate paid by virtually all other school districts in both Monmouth and Ocean counties," Webster said.
The tax levy, or portion of the budget supported by local taxpayers, would be $34.4 million.
The debt service portion of the local tax levy, which is the amount of money needed to pay for school construction projects and capital improvements, would be $2.1 million.
Officials say that the funding for implementing an all-day kindergarten next year is a major yet reasonable added cost within next year's budget.
"We applied for and received a waiver from the state to go above the budget cap in order to add all-day kindergarten at a cost of $358,613. Our argument was that since the state will require our district to offer allday pre-school five years from now, we can't expect students to go from all-day pre-school to half-day kindergarten," Corigliano said in a press release. According to Webster, the most significant decrease within the 2008-2009 school budget is in decreased administrative costs, where he says the district is $90 lower in per pupil costs for administration.
Corigliano and Superintendent of Schools Dr. William DeFeo were both unavailable for further comment.
The public will vote on the budget on Tuesday, April 15.
Three seats are up for the board of education. The candidates, Steve Placido, Gary Rhodes and Mary Walter, are running unopposed.
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