If You Blinked, You Missed the Point Pleasant Borough School Budget Meeting

If anyone is angry about school district spending or budget cutting in Point Pleasant Borough, you'd never know it.

Not one resident voiced a criticism or a question about the proposed $37 million budget or its $29 million tax levy and accompanying $91 average tax increase at the Monday night Board of Education budget meeting at Ocean Road School.

The proposed budget raises the local school tax rate of 90.89 cents per $100 assessed valuation by 2.43 cents up to 93.32 cents per $100 of assessed value, said District Administrator Steven Corso after the meeting.

That increase means the owner of a home assessed at $375,000 would pay another $91 in school taxes per year, according to information distributed by the school district at the meeting. 

The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 would pay an additional $49 per year. The owner of a home assessed at $300,000 would pay $73 more per year, according to the district.

The only resident who spoke at all during the public comment portion was Susan Ward, who is one of five candidates running for two board seats.

Ward complimented district officials for their budget presentation, complete with narrated slide show and informational booklet.

"Can we get copies of these to residents outside the school community?" she asked, holding out her copy of the booklet. "If we could get these into the library or other centers, I think that would be good."

Schools Superintendent Vincent Smith said sure.

Shortly afterward, the meeting was adjourned.

About 70 residents, including school administrators and a few faculty members, attended the meeting that lasted less than an hour.

The board is scheduled to adopt the proposed budget at its 7 p.m. March 28 meeting at Ocean Road School's cafeteria.

The public will have a chance to vote on the budget's $29,037,267 tax levy, along with choosing two of five candidates running for two, three-year board seats, on April 27. Polls are open from 2 to 9 p. m.

If the tax levy fails on April 27, it goes to Borough Council, which can leave it intact or cut it.

During the meeting, Smith noted that the borough has voted in favor of 12 of the last 14 school tax levies.

Last year was not one of the "yes" years and it was obvious no one has forgotten that.

Smith said he and Corso have met with local parent and community groups to try to clear up "misconceptions" that he believes contributed to last year's tax levy defeat.

"There were some major misconceptions last year," Smith told his audience. "One was that if the budget was voted down, the public would vote on the revised budget. But there's only one opportunity for the public to vote on the budget. If it fails, it goes to the council.

"Another misconception," he continued, "was that if the budget failed, the board would restore certain things that were cut," he said, noting that also does not happen.

"Please," he said to the group in the school cafeteria, "take the next two weeks to review all the pertinent information."

The proposed budget does not call for any increase in class size or any charge for any sports or other extra-curricular activities, Smith said.

After the meeting, Smith said budget information is available and that he will discuss it with any local community group that makes a request.

Corso said the district is receiving an increase of $356,074 compared to last year's state aid, according to the state. However, the state also assessed the district $44,552 on capital improvement grants it had allocated in 1998 for additions at the two elementary schools.

So the net increase in state aid this year is $311,522, compared to last year. 

However, the state lowered aid to the district for the last school year by $1.9 million, so the increase of $311,522 is still a decrease of nearly $1.6 million compared to the 2008-2009 school year, he noted.

Regarding the race for two board seats, incumbents John MacDermant, Morris Avenue, and Regina Foley, Bayberry Avenue, are challenged by Tim Harrison, Cedar Street; James Barber, Middle Avenue; and Ward, Riverwood Avenue.