Princeton Schools' 2011-12 Budget Proposes 1.98% Increase

The Princeton Regional School District is proposing a $80.28 million budget 2011-12, one that would increase taxes for both borough and township residents. 

The district is asking voters to fund three positions at the high school to address overcrowding, but is not requesting money to address capital improvements beyond those deemed critical for health and safety, Schools Superintendent Judy Wilson said. 

Under the proposed budget, the tax rate would be 99.91 cents per $100 assessed valuation in the borough and 94.61 cents per $100 of  assessed valuation in the township. 

The total proposed budget includes spending on federally funded programs and repayment of debt. 

If approved, a house assessed at the Princeton Borough average of $747,795 will be taxed an additional $97.69. A house assessed at the Princeton Township average of $827,065 will pay an additional $102.92.

Voters will be asked to approve the proposed  2011-12 budget on Wednesday, April 27. Polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m.

“Our overall budget (this year) shrunk by $3 million over the previous year,” Princeton Schools Superintendent Judy Wilson said, referring to 2009-10 when a drastic cut in state funding forced the district to eliminate dozens of positions and cut programs. 

“We’ve gone through a time of drastic cuts and this is a very conservative budget meant to stabilize our fiscal realities but still provide excellence for our students," Wilson said.

She said the district’s major costs are salary, benefits and energy.

The tight budget means that the only capital improvements slated for next year are those related to health and safety, including a project a replace major electrical feeds into the elementary schools.

Items not funded are capital improvements like roof repairs, window replacement and replacing and old and peeling track at the high school.

“Some of that will have to be in a bond question over the next 18 months,” Wilson said.

Also missing from the budget are requests for classroom technology like equipment for the science lab and mobile technology carts for the writing labs.

“We lead the state and much of the nation in what we do in Princeton but we’re lacking in terms of instructional technology,” Wilson said.

Within the next year, she said the district plans to launch a private campaign to raise money from parents, alumni, foundations and corporations in the hopes of raising $2.5 million for needed technology.

The district initially had a $2 million to $3 million budget deficit, but managed to make up the shortfall in part by cutting administrative and service costs, reorganizing bus routes, bringing more special education programs in-house to minimize out of district placement costs.

Gov. Chris Christie also reinstated some of the last year’s state aid cut, which gave Princeton an additional $741,000, Wilson said.