Red Bank School District Opts to Delay Decision on Use of Additional State Aid

Red Bank’s Board of Education has chosen to defer its decision on how to use additional State aid until its next budget period, district Superintendent Laura Morena said in an email.

Presented with four recommendations from the state on how to use the more than $151,000 in additional state aid the district recently received, Red Bank chose the option that would allow it to consider the aid as an additional revenue source and apply it as seen fit in its 2012-13 budget.

Gov. Chris Christie’s office recently announced that $850 million in new school aid, some of which had been cut previously by the Christie, had been authorized for New Jersey districts in this year’s budget. However, the districts were not immediately told how the money was to be used, leading some, including Morana, to wonder if the extra cash was only intended to defray taxes.

Eventually, the State Department of Education provided district with four possibilities, only two of which call for the money to be used for tax relief, either this current budget year or next.

Another option would have allowed Red Bank and all districts to amend their recently adopted 2011-12 budgets. That, however, would have required revisions and another budget submission to the county superintendent, a difficult proposition during the summer months.

Red Bank chose option number three: “This defers the decision to allocate the additional state aid during the 2012-13 budget process. It is included as assigned funds, and counts as a revenue source.”

The board of education approved the district’s more than $19 million budget in March. Voters approved the budget, along with the $12.26 million tax levy a month later. The tax rate per $100 of assessed property value is $1.04. The additional state aid, if applied to tax relief, would account for less than a cent reduction on the tax rate.