UPDATED: Moorestown Receives Sizable State Aid Boost

A decent boost in state aid for could take a bite out of its projected 2012-13 tax increase.

State aid numbers released Thursday show Moorestown receiving $2,989,549 for next school year, compared to $2,735,299 last year, for an increase of $254,250. The 9.3 percent increase is the third highest among all districts in Burlington County.

But here’s the better news: In the —which called for a net tax increase of $903,687, or 1.55 percent—she only budgeted for $2.1 million in state aid.

Moorestown, like many districts across the state, to the tune of $613,000. Shugars did not expect another bonus this year, and so kept the original, pre-bonus state aid number from last year—about $2.1 million—flat for the 2012-13 budget.

Held up against Shugars’ original budget forecast, the $2.9 million in state aid this year represents an $800,000 bump.

That’s still significantly lower than the $4.2 million the district received in 2009-10, but significantly higher than the $1.5 million it received in 2010-11, after the Christie administration abruptly slashed state aid.

“We’re still not at the funding level that we were before,” said Shugars, “but we’re moving in the right direction … We’re seeing a very large swing.”

Shugars couldn’t speculate as to how the board of education might choose to take advantage of the boost in state aid—whether for tax relief or other purposes—but said the budget and finance committee was meeting Monday morning and state aid would certainly be a topic of discussion.

School Board President Don Mishler, who admitted he was surprised at the amount of the aid increase from last year, said it's obvious how the money should be used.

"You can absolutely expect that the ask that we will have for the local taxpayer will be less," he said. "I can only imagine the local taxpayer will benefit from this."

In the current draft of the budget, homeowners assessed at the township average of $529,800 would pay approximately $112 more next year.

The district must have an initial draft of the budget to the county Office of Education by March 5, Shugars said. Though , freeing the district from having to seek voter approval on the budget (as long as it stays below the 2 percent cap), the district’s budget schedule remains the same.

The budget and finance committee will present a draft of the budget to the full board of education at a meeting Wednesday.