Tax Increase Included in Early School Budget Forecast

’s early budget forecast calls for a tax increase that would cost the average homeowner an additional $112.

While all the numbers have yet to be finalized—including perhaps the most significant: state aid—business administrator Lynn Shugars projected a budget increase of $1.07 million for 2012-13, which would bring the district right up to the 2 percent cap.

However, that number is offset by a $166,341 reduction in the tax levy for debt service, for a net tax increase of $903,687, or 1.55 percent. For homeowners assessed at the township average of $529,800, that would translate to an approximate $112 increase.

Some of the factors behind the increase:

• Salary increases—including bus drivers, who haven’t seen a raise in two years—and limited retirements.
• Continuing enrollment decline. The district enrollment dropped from 4,255 students in Oct. 2010 to 4,073 in Oct. 2011, with enrollment of 3,990 projected for Oct. 2012.
• Investment in capital projects. Shugars said the district hasn’t invested in capital projects the last two years. The plan she presented calls for $460,000 in improvements for the 2012-2013 school year, including $115,000 for new flooring, $100,000 for lighting (which may be subsidized by the state), and $50,000 for security cameras at the elementary and middle schools.

Shugars explained the decline in enrollment, which is expected to continue over the next few years, could lead to staffing cuts.

She projected $2.1 million in state aid, which is what the district received last year—minus the $613,000 in additional (unanticipated) state aid the district received in June.

The board of education to keep the 2011-2012 budget flat, even though voters had approved a tax increase in April, as well as put off a . The board expected to implement pay-to-participate in the 2012-2013 school year.

“It’s as likely as not that there will be some level of participation fees in next year’s (2012-2013) budget,” Board President Don Mishler said at the time.

But Shugars’ budget forecast Tuesday night included no revenues from pay-to-participate.