$800K in extra state aid on its way to Spotswood
Money will likely go to tax relief, school improvement projects
BY VINCENT TODARO Staff Writer

SPOTSWOOD - The school district is expected to receive $800,000 in additional state aid for the next budget, though officials said that amount could be partially offset by a decrease in debt service aid.

Board of Education President Alan Bartlett said that, with the 20 percent increase in state aid, the district will now be just $400,000 short of the amount it is supposed to get in annual aid, based on the state's own adequacy projections.

Despite the good news - and Bartlett said officials are "thrilled" about the added aid- the board still has its fingers crossed as it awaits the state budget message from Gov. Jon Corzine. In theMarch 21message, Corzine will discuss how much the state is giving to districts in order to help pay off interest on debt. Bartlett said Spotswood receives the debt service aid each year, and losing any of that would count against the state aid amount.

Bartlett said he does not believe the $800,000 state aid increase is mandated strictly for tax relief, but due to the nature of the systemmost of it will be used for that purpose. With the state cap on school district spending, the board can only spend 4 percent more in the 2008-09 budget than it did in the current year. Spotswood's school budget totals slightly more than $22 million.

"By default, a lot of the $800,000 will go to tax relief," Bartlett said, adding that some of the additional aid could go to other costs. The district needs to do work on its indoor high school bleachers, for example, as well as the bleachers at the football stadium. The schools also have HVAC issues that need to be addressed.

The board may elect to put some of the new money toward the capital projects, a move that could spare the district fromhaving to hold a bond referendum in a few years, Bartlett said.

The board and its administrators are still working on the 2008-09 school year budget, but any tax increase will likely be "modest, not nearly as high as last year," according to Bartlett.

Spotswood's school tax rate was increased by 7.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, or an average of $194, for the current school year. For the prior year, the school tax rate hike was 10 cents, or $252 on average.

Borough voters have defeated the school in 21 of the past 22 school elections. Inmost of those years, the Borough Council has elected to cut the proposed increase.

Bartlett said officials are now all ears as they await Corzine's budget message.

"We'll wait for the governor's speech on howmuch we'll lose in aid for debt interest," he said.

District officials assumed last month that the $800,000 increase was coming, but wanted to be cautious. Bartlett said the confirmation came when the district downloaded the software budget package from the state.

He said the district hopes to get an added $400,000 in state aid next year, as that wouldmean Spotswood is finally being given the full amount of aid it is owed.

"The adequacy for us was about $1.2 million. We were underfunded that much," he said. "The Spotswood taxpayers were bearing a disproportionate portion of the costs."

Spotswood, likemost New Jersey school districts, has received flat state aid for several years, while contractual and other costs continued to rise.

The budget is still a work in progress, Bartlett said, "but our commitment is to the try and return as much as we can to taxpayers. It is intended to provide tax relief."