Opening of new school causes boost in budget

Opening of new school
causes boost in budget
Marlboro K-8 board
seeking 9-cent increase
in local school tax rate
By jeanette M. eng
Staff Writer

MARLBORO — Coming on the heels of a 9.9-cent increase in the school tax rate a year ago, the Board of Education is proposing a 9-cent increase to support the K-8 school district’s 2003-04 budget.

The opening of a new school, the addition of 40 staff members, new standardized tests district-wide and a new technology lab are some of the factors leading to higher costs in the operation of the district, administrators said.

"Any more cuts would have started increasing class sizes and impacting staff and program directly," said Cindy Barr-Rague, the board’s business administrator.

The board’s $61.7 million budget for 2003-04 will be supported by a local tax levy of $47.5 million. The budget as introduced by the board will raise the K-8 school tax rate from $1.57 to $1.66 per $100 of assessed valuation, according to figures provided by the board.

That means the owner of a home assessed at $150,000 will pay $2,490 in K-8 school taxes in 2003-04, up from $2,355 in the current year. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 will pay $4,150 in K-8 school taxes in 2003-04, up from $3,925 in the current year. The owner of a home assessed at $350,000 will pay $5,810 in K-8 school taxes in 2003-04, up from $5,495 in the current year.

The K-8 school taxes are one portion of the overall property tax paid by Marlboro property owners. The total tax bill also includes municipal government taxes, Freehold Regional High School District taxes and Monmouth County taxes, among others.

According to Barr-Rague, the primary impact on the 2003-04 budget came in the form of four large one-time expenses. Completely opening the Marlboro Memorial Middle School, Nolan Road, which will house half of the district’s sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, is the biggest expense on the list. The board has budgeted $2.3 million in staff-related expenses. This is due to contractual salary increases and a $1.4 million increase in employee benefits. This also includes an overall staff increase of 40 employees; 23 of whom will work in the new middle school.

The board will spend $300,000 in the curriculum department to keep the K-8 district updated. This includes the purchase of new district-wide standardized tests and the addition of a new technology lab.

"We will be putting in place 14 different computer stations to match the new middle school’s applied technology program," Barr-Rague said.

A transportation increase of $100,000 is attributed to the addition of a van and the replacement of four existing buses and four existing vans.

Insurance rates have escalated each year and this year is no exception with a $70,000 increase, according to figures provided by the board.

The K-8 district will receive $9.8 million in state aid in 2003-04, a figure which has stayed the same since the 1997-98 budget, administrators said.

The proposed budget is the result of much work throughout most of 2002. Time was dedicated to months of auditing programs in the K-8 district for possible cuts, months of Project 3000 meetings to inform residents and raise support for the budget and many board meetings dedicated to receiving board approval.

When it was proposed, the 2002-03 budget called for a 12.5-cent increase in the K-8 school tax rate. That budget was defeated by Marlboro voters in the annual school election. The Township Council then reviewed the budget and negotiated spending cuts with the board that dropped the increase from 12.5 cents to 9.9 cents.

"We’ve been working to get the tax rate down each year," Barr-Rague said. "Last year, the council passed the budget with a 9.9-cent increase. This year we’re coming in with 9 cents so this is the leanest we can make it."

The school board introduced the tentative budget on Feb. 25. A public hearing on the budget and its formal adoption are scheduled for a March 25 board meeting. Residents will vote on the budget in the April 15 election, when they will also elect three members of the board.