Board to Hold Hearing on Rough School Budget

The Bedminster Township School District board of education will be holding a public hearing on its $15 million 2013-2014 budget at Thursday’s meeting.

The preliminary budget was introduced in early March, and is set at $15,728,123, an increase of 5.2 percent over the 2012-2013 budget of $14,904,995.

Residents with a home valued at $419,944 will pay $2,894.46 in taxes, an increase of $173.36 over the year before.

The district was facing a rough budget season because of three required cost increases, namely 32 additional students being sent to Bernards High School, causing an increase of $369,000 in the budget.

In addition, the district is required to pay additional costs for more special education students and out-of-district placements, totaling $388,000.

Finally, salaries for teachers and staff have seen increases as the board finalizes its agreement with the Bedminster Teachers Association.

To account for all these costs, the district decided to eliminate the family and consumer science program, among other cuts.

Those other cuts included the loss of salaries for two retirements, reductions in teacher supplies, reductions in hours for some teachers and more.

But this was just a preliminary budget, and the district was looking at possible revenue streams that might allow for an elimination of some of the cuts.

Those revenue possibilities included sharing transportation services with Hunterdon County Educational Services Commission and changing the percentage their insurance broker receives based on district health benefits.

These items were being investigated throughout the month and are expected to be discussed when the district presents its final budget, followed by a public hearing and possible approval.

The hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the cafetorium of the Bedminster Township School on Somerville Road.