Refinancing Drops Somerset Hills School Tax Levy Hike Under 2%

The Somerset Hills Board of Education gave final approval on Wednesday to a $39.1-million school budget for 2013-14 that will raise the general fund tax levy by the 2 percent allowed by the state. However, the total increase for local taxpayers brought down to 1.6 percent due to refinancing savings in the debt service account.

Somerset Hills Business Administrator Nancy Hunter said following Wednesday's meeting that she is still working on calculating the local school tax impact on each of the three towns that make up the regional school district, including Bernardsville, Far Hills and Peapack-Gladstone.

The new school tax levy for next year is $28.16 million to fund the general funding portion of the budget, a 2 percent increase above this year's figure of $27.61 million.

However, because of a $71,029 reduction in the amount of taxes to be used to pay off debt, the overall tax levy to be shared by all taxpayers next year adds up to $31.33 million, a 1.6 percent increase over 2012-13.

The budget approved by the school board includes funding for a new instructional technology supervisor, a position school officials have said they've wanted to fill for years; a new reading specialist and new special education teacher at Bernardsville Middle School, and a new teacher at according to the budget presentation by the school district.

However, there will be one less teaching position next fall at Bedwell Elementary School due to declining enrollment, Miller said.

Other priorities in the budget are security enhancements, he said. However, Miller said that many security enhancements already are in place already.

All school districts in New Jersey, including the Somerset Hills, must begin a new system of teacher and principal evaluations next year, Miller said. School officials must be trained in the new evaluation techniques, he added.

Miller said that while the main state aid number for next year remains the same from this year to next, the state has cut the amount of debt service aid for the Somerset Hills school district by $48,000 for 2013-14.

Moreover, Miller said that school aid to the Somerset Hills never has returned to the $2.2 million figure it was before Gov. Christie drastically reduced aid to most schools statewide the first year he was in office. In that year, 2010, the main aid figure to Somerset Hills schools dropped to zero.

In addition, the amount of special education funding the school district will receive remains uncertain, although that is not uncommon at this time of year, Miller said.

However, Hunter said the district managed to reduce its debt service account for next year, from about $3.37 million this year to about $3.25 million next year.

She attributed that reduction to refinancing of outstanding bonds, with the $3.3 million debt service savings to be spread out over 16 years.

In addition, Miller said a districtwide energy efficiency program, which has already earned Somerset Hills schools "green ribbons" for energy efficiency, is a long-lasting source of savings.

Along with an estimated $30,000 savings through a solar panel installation at Bernards High School and Bedwell, just over $140,000 saved through energy efficiency steps is money saved that "goes directly back into the classroom."

Looking ahead to future years, Miller, who will retire on June 30, said that the school district will need to look for such sources of savings in the future in order to maintain programs while living under the state's 2 percent budget cap.

The budget for next year also includes an increase in capital outlay funding from $575,400 to $838,536 for next year, as school officials cautioned they do not want to fall behind on maintenance.

In addition, Hunter said when the budget was introduced in Februrary that the capital fund includes $100,000 that may be spent the first year's payment toward construction of a turf field behind the Bernardsville Middle School, the so-called Chestnut Field. However, no agreement has been reached yet for construction of that field, which would be located on borough property.

The board also is planning to move ahead with construction fo a grass field to expand the lower field complex beyond the turf field at Bernards High School, with Board Member Lou Palma putting that cost at between $50,000 to $100,000. However, Hunter said last month that the $50,000 or so that project already is in this year's capital budget.