N.J. school districts hopeful for budgets

The combination of a tax-levy cap and additional aid through the state's new school-funding formula will have most voters considering modest tax increases when they weigh in on their districts' budgets Tuesday.

Because of the new formula, about 120 of the state's several hundred school districts will have to use a large portion of their aid to provide residents with tax relief. In some cases, that would amount to stable or even reduced local tax rates. Locally, 12 districts in Burlington County, 13 in Camden County, and one in Gloucester County must use some of their aid for tax relief.

But if you think that means districts are counting on easy passes from voters, guess again. A sluggish economy in an already highly taxed state has had a lot of districts working hard to educate voters in an effort to persuade them to back their school budgets.

Take Burlington Township.

Thanks in part to $3 million in state aid - a 20 percent increase over last year - the district is seeking an increase of 1.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value, or about $38 more in annual school tax on average.

With that, the growing district plans the reinstatement teachers and programs that were cut last year, expanded services for special-needs children, and more.

Still, last year's budget passed by only 74 votes, so Superintendent Christopher Manno has been meeting with civic groups, even making house calls, to try to get voters' support for the $58.9 million budget.

"We never take anything for granted," district spokeswoman Liz Scott said.

Even with most districts keeping to or below the 4 percent cap on a tax-levy increase, which was enacted last year, taking nothing for granted is probably wise.

"If you look at the voter approval rate, it rises and falls with the economy," said Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey State Boards Association.

This year's ballots also contain fewer additional funding questions than ever since the so-called second questions were established a dozen years ago, the association said.

There are 33 additional questions this year in 28 districts, compared with 87 questions in 65 districts last year.

The drop is partly due to what the association called "the chilling effect" of a new law that requires a 60 percent majority vote for approval of second questions.

In Winslow Township, voters will have three choices on their ballots. If they approve the $87.1 million operating budget alone, their taxes will go down by $120 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

If they approve a second question, taxes will drop by less - $10 per $100,000 of assessed property value - but the district will avoid having to cut an assistant superintendent, two assistant principals, 20 teachers, and 20 kindergarten teachers' aides, district spokeswoman Valerie Rabb said. Voters will also have a third option: Leave taxes as they are to retain those positions and enable the district to make needed physical repairs and improvements.

In addition to the second questions, 65 districts have state permission to seek a property-tax levy exceeding the 4 percent cap. They include Audubon Park and Lawnside in Camden County and Washington Township, East Greenwich, Swedesboro-Woolrich and Woodbury Heights in Gloucester County.

Last month, Washington Township taxpayers voted down a proposed $6.2 million bond issue to install solar panels at the high school. Disappointed district officials said it would have boosted the average school tax bill by $18.87 a year for 10 years, but would have cut the school electric bill by 26 percent.

Most districts are staying well within the cap.

At Lenape Regional, where voters have rejected budgets for six years in a row, five of the Burlington County district's eight communities are looking at tax-rate cuts.

Those are Evesham, Medford Lakes, Medford, Southampton and Woodland. Mount Laurel, Shamong and Tabernacle, which grew in enrollment and wealth, would see tax increases.

In Glassboro, district officials have mounted a voter-education effort for the second year running. Last year, voters approved a tax increase averaging $105 after a few years of budget defeats. This year, the district is asking for a 1-cent increase in the rate, or $10.86 more a year, on average.

"We're calling this a status quo budget," district spokeswoman Heather Simmons said. "Our hope is our parents and the community at large will see we're doing the best we can to put together a responsible budget that meets our students' needs."

Cherry Hill is proposing to use a sizable fund balance of $7.2 million to increase its budget by 6.8 percent and ask voters for a tax-rate increase of 9 cents per $100 of assessed value. That would come to $126 a year, on average.

"It's probably one of the smallest increases in a decade," district spokeswoman Susan Bastnagel said.

Even so, the district has also been putting out budget information, trying to reach voters.

"Any increase is a difficult sell in this economy, with gas prices the way they are and a recession happening or looming, depending our your perspective," Bastnagel said. "And the fact that the vote is April 15 doesn't help."

If voters reject a budget, it is sent to their municipal governing body for review. The municipal body may leave the budget intact or make cuts.

A school board can appeal to the state education commissioner if its municipality's cuts to a defeated budget would keep the district from providing an adequate education or undermine the district's financial stability.