School tax levy cap culprit in budget woes
School superintendent, board members take their case to the council
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

Concerned parents packed a recent Brick Township Council meeting looking for an answer to a simple question, Is the Educational Enrichment Center going to close?

They didn't get one.

School Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger and Board of Education members were on hand at the March 27 council meeting to present the 2007-2008 school budget.

But the parents, many of whom wore white T-shirts with "Every Education Counts" printed in red letters on the front, showed up to support keeping the school on Hendrickson Avenue open.

A decision on whether to keep the EEC open has not yet been made, Seidenberger said during the presentation.

"There's a lot of rumors going around," he said. "It's been a very difficult budget to put together. I'm not embarrassed to say we cannot consider any program to be a sacred cow. I think we are committed to looking for solutions. We need to look at efficiencies as well as doing the best for our kids."

Seidenberger led the presentation on the $130,335,191 budget, which also includes three special questions and a $4.5 million bond referendum to replace the roofs on a number of district schools.

The state-imposed 4 percent cap on the school tax levy is the primary reason for the additional ballot questions, Seidenberger said.

"It had a major impact on what we were able to do with this budget," he said.

State mandated items remain inside the cap, nonmandated are outside of the cap he said.

"Unfortunately, the critical mass has been mandated versus nonmandated," he said. "We had no other choice. We had to look at non-mandated programs."

The school tax rate will rise 6.2 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation if the tax levy is approved, Seidenberger said.

"That's the best number so far we have come in with since I've been superintendent," he said.

A school district can request that special questions be put on the ballot, as long as the county superintendent has approved them, Seidenberger said.

But each question must be approved by a 60 percent majority of voters. If that doesn't happen, the Township Council could decide to put the funds back in, he said.

If the council opts not to restore the funds, the questions are "dead," Seidenberger said.

The defeat of any one of the three questions could have a major impact on students for years to come.

The first question asks voters to approve $800,000 - 1.71 cents on the school tax rate- to maintain the district's existing level of middle school and high school athletic and extracurricular activities.

Board President Sharon Kight, who is up for re-election, urged the audience to "think about what a community is."

"If we take away extracurricular activities from our students, what are they going to be doing every day after school? These questions are very important."

The second question deals with the expansion and enhancement of each school's safety, security and communications systems, at a cost of $275,000, or 0.59 cents on the school tax rate.

The third question asks voters to approve $300,000- 0.64 cents on the school tax rate -to maintain courtesy busing in the district.

"There seems to be a little confusion," he said. "Courtesy busing is not after-school busing. Special education is immune. We need to work closely with the police department and the Township Council and basically decide which of our students will be walking to school next year."

Society has changed since the time he walked to school, Councilman Anthony Matthews said.

"It's a whole different element," he said. "We have predators on the streets and dangers we never faced. We want to be careful. We are talking about the future of this country."

The impact of the roof replacement referendum would not be felt in this year's budget, he said.

"There will be an impact when they decide the length of bonds and the interest," he said. "Because of the problem, we really need to do it now. You don't have roofs, you don't have safe schools."

"If the roof goes, the building is going to go," Matthews said.

Seidenberger also broke down the cost for each question per year for a house assessed at the township average of $133,500.

Approval of the first question would translate into a $22.81 increase. The second question would mean an additional $7.84. Approval of the courtesy busing question would add another $8.55 to a residential tax bill, he said.

If voters approve the tax levy and all three questions, taxes on an average assessed home would rise $122.81 per year, or "34 cents more per day," Seidenberger said.

Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras said the average assessment was calculated back in 1992, when the township last underwent a revaluation.

Officials also stressed that an assessment was not the same as how much house is actually worth.

Councilman Daniel Toth noted that the average assessed homes included single-family homes, condominiums and apartments.

"That's why the number is so low," he said.

Seidenberger did have some good news.

"The town finally owns Brick Township High School," he said. "We are mortgage free. We are about to put a mortgage on our roofs."

Health benefit costs for district employees rose 2.5 percent, below the state health benefits plan's increase of 6.9 percent.

The polls will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on April 17.