E.B. council is likely to trim increase in school tax

Officials believe many residents support tab, but can't afford hike

BY VINCENT TODARO

Staff Writer

By all signs, the East Brunswick Township Council will cut the defeated school tax levy, although the extent of that reduction is yet to be determined.

The $122.2 million school budget for 2006-07 carries a 21-cent tax rate hike. That means the owner of property assessed at $100,000 would pay $210 more in school taxes next year. While that increase supports the general fund budget, residents will see an additional tax hike of 10 cents related to school additions approved in a 2004 referendum.

While the Township Council has the option of ordering an amount to be cut, or leaving the budget as is, all five of its members said they believe a cut will be in the works.

"Obviously, the voters have spoken," said council Vice President Donald Klemp. "We have to look at the budget carefully, and I suspect we'll cut it to some degree."

He said the council will probably examine what percentage of the budget was cut last year, and use that in determining how much should be taken from this year's. The council reduced last year's budget by $2 million, thus trimming that year's tax rate hike from 28 cents to 23 cents.

Councilwoman Christi Calvano said she was not surprised to see this year's tax levy voted down.

"As much as our residents care about education, they really feel squeezed," she said of the property tax bills.

Many residents she spoke with told her they could not bring themselves to vote against the school budget, but also could not afford to vote for it. This led them to stay home, which may be part of the reason for the low voter turnout of approximately 15 percent of registered voters.

That thought is in line with statements made in the past by some Board of Education officials, who feel that school budgets are defeated more by those who do not vote than by those who do.

Councilman David Stahl said it's too early to say how much will be cut from the 21-cent increase.

"We haven't even received a copy of the school budget," he said earlier this week.

The council will follow the usual process of meeting with school officials in a public session to get a better handle on the budget, he said.

"It was defeated by voters, and my role is to respect the process," he said.

Councilwoman Catherine Diem said the council will go through the budget item by item to see where reductions can be made. She said the goal is to find areas that will not affect the instructional aspect.

Council President Nancy Pinkin said she realizes the budget was defeated by a slim margin - 2,297 to 2,133 - but that the council "cannot go against the will of the voters."

She said she realizes that a lot of people were in favor of the budget, but that there also were many who could not afford the increase. She likened making the choice on whether to bring about a cut as something of a King Solomon's decision.

During Monday night's council meeting, resident Robert Lennon said he has looked at the line items in the school budget and found allocations that he does not think should be there. He mentioned many elective courses and college credit courses as examples.

The council can recommend which areas to cut, but the final choices are up to the Board of Education. The board will have to cut enough areas to reach the dollar amount ordered by the council, unless it chooses to appeal the cut to the county superintendent of schools.