BOE 2012-13 Budget Proposal Includes 1.5% Tax Levy Increase

The Matawan Aberdeen Board of Education presented a $63,282,867 spending plan for the 2012-13 academic year at their committee meeting Monday night.

The proposed budget, which was approved by the county superintendent, would increase the tax levy by 1.5% if approved by the board at their March 26 meeting, according to James Strimple, the district's business administrator.

The 2012-13 tax levy, including debt service, is $47,966,753, which is a $639,530 increase from the 2011-12 school year tax levy.

This means that the average Aberdeen home will see an increase of $153.47 in their school taxes to a total of $4408.12. The average Matawan home will see an increase of $33.58 to a total of $4,924.11.

The reason that Aberdeen residents will see a greater increase than Matawan residents is due to a complicated formula developed by the state called equalized valuation that the district has no control over, Strimple explained. The main component of this formula is property values, including both residential properties and business properties.

The district anticipates $12,371,672 in state aid, which is an increase of $1,082,749. A portion of the aid is being used for the implementation of a new state mandated teacher evalution system, to pay tuition for a child attending a charter school and to increase health benefits.

During his presentation to the board, Strimple conducted a hypothetical situation where the board applied $200,000 in state aid to attempt to reduce the tax levy and reduce the burden on the individual tax payer. In the scenario, school taxes for Aberdeen were decreased by about $9 and school taxes in Matawan were decrease by about $5.

"We've spent a lot of time on this budget and I can say with certainty throughout the school year and since my arrival last March we've been very fiscally responsible in terms of what we spend and what we don't spend," said Superintendent David Healy.

According to Healy, the budget includes funding for increasing technology and increasing resources and training for literacy intiatives in addition to continuing intitiatives like Study Island and .

There are also three capital projects that the district has planned for the 2012-13 year, Healy said. The board of education plans to improve the and the . They also plan to investigate the possibility of removing the old Cliffwood Elementary School building which presents a safety issue to the district, Healy said.

The board will vote on the budget at their March 26 meeting at 7 p.m. at Cambridge Park School. The meeting is open to the public and there will be a public comment section before the board votes.