District to Hear Input on Budget From Ridgewood Voters

If you've been looking to add some input to the district's , which will drive taxes for the average homeowner by $191, tonight is your night to let the district know your thoughts.

After initially bracing for another year with no state aid, the district was afforded some relief by way of . The infusion of cash allowed school officials to unveil a budget with no increases or staff or programming changes. The school budget reflects an increase of 2 percent, the maximum increase allowed per the Christie administration's "reforms".

Angelo DeSimone, the Assistant Superintendent of Business, said if one were to remove the 12-percent estimated increases in pension and health costs, there would be . Utility costs will also be increasing by 5 percent, administrators report and some line items have been reallocated into others.

Of course, some costs are still undetermined, including the state of the biggest labor cost driver – teachers. The contract for teachers is up at the end of this school year and the district is currently in negotiations. School officials have budgeted zero percent increases to the teacher contract for the 2011-2012 budget, though how that cost factors remains to be seen.

The district last week unveiled the budget to the village council and top administrators, whom had no questions or comments directly related to the budget. Voters will take a crack at it on April 27, along with a vote for the on the Ridgewood Board of Education.

Should the voters reject the budget, , the council will have the option to force the district to cut the budget further.

The meeting will be held on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Education Center on Cottage Place. Some can watch from home by tuning into Channel 77 or via live streaming of the meeting from the district's website. There will also be opportunities through coffees and meetings to ask particulars through April.