State Aid Allows Board to Propose Budget with Zero Percent Tax Increase

Following last Tuesday, schools around the state will be receiving a boost in state aid, including New Providence.

, there will not be a property tax levy increase under the proposed 2011/2012 school budget.

“The Governor’s recent budget address included the release of state aid numbers and New Providence is very fortunate to have an increase in state aid from $0 last year,” said John Wolak, Finance Chairman, at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting.

The Finance Committee recommended that $10,000 be allocated toward the technology budget so the board can begin to replace outdated computers and hardware, Wolak said. The remaining balance of state aid, $312,610, will actually decrease the tax levy by 0.02 percent.

“We’re going to use that to offset the tax levy included as revenue, providing a direct benefit to the taxpayers of New Providence in terms of tax relief, which we thought was the most appropriate use of the money given the current situation,” Wolak said. “We’ll continue to operate our district at the high level we’ve all come to expect.”

Wolak noted that under the proposed budget, there will not be any cuts to curricular or co-curricular programs.

The district will now submit the proposed budget to the executive county superintendent. If it’s approved, residents will vote on the budget on April 27.

Prior to Gov. Christie's budget address, assuming the district was not receiving any state aid, the board proposed a budget that would include a 0.88 percent increase in expenses, amounting to $280,000, imposing a one percent tax levy increase for residents.

That increase would have resulted in a $31 increase per half year for the 2011/2012 school year, based on the average assessed home, Wolak said.

“It’s the first time in a long time that we can, as a board, sit here and say that we’ll continue to provide the educational services with no tax increase as a result of this budget,” Wolak said.

While the district is thankful for the state funding, Wolak said it’s nothing near what the district received in state aid for the 2009/2010 school year.

“Obviously, we are grateful to get some allocation of state aid. That is, though, 78% less than the allocation of state aid we received in 2009/2010, which was about $1.5 million,” Wolak said.

But overall, board members expressed their satisfaction with the proposed budget.

“I can’t give enough credit to the Finance Committee and to the administration for working so diligently to identify every possible cost savings in the past year that prepared us for this moment,” said Robert Lucid, Board President.

Board Member William Dibble said he credits prior board members from the last 20 years in making the decisions that put the district in it’s current position.

“I want to congratulate everyone in this administration and on this board for the work they have done to get us to this point,” Lucid said. “This is an extraordinary moment for all of us and I hope that everyone appreciates it.”

Do you have questions about the proposed school budget? If so, there will be an informal Superintendent's Forum on Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m. in the high school/middle school media center.