Letter to the Editor: School Budget Driven by 'Fiscal Accountability'

When Lawrence residents go to the polls on Tuesday, April 17th, we hope you will vote for the school budget.  While the ballot is complicated this year – multiple school board candidates running for various terms, plus an additional referendum from Lawrence Township’s Council asking for permission to spend more than the 2 percent cap – the school budget is straightforward.

In fact, the Lawrence Township school budget is $27,000 below last year’s budget, and about $500,000 below our mandated 2 percent cap. We need an additional 3 cents in the tax rate, but that’s solely to cover the loss in property values throughout the township.

If you excluded the decline in ratables you would find that over the last five years school tax increases have averaged about a penny a year. That is much less than the increase in the cost of living, much less than many other school districts, and certainly less than other municipalities.

Through our many meetings with the community, we’ve developed a set of district goals that drive our budgeting and strategic planning. The first goal is fiscal accountability and efficiency, and this is one of the primary community values that drives this budget

- Laura Waters, President, Lawrence Township Board of Education

- Leon B. Kaplan, Vice President, Lawrence Township Board of Education