Ridgewood BOE Tells Residents to Vote 'Yes' on $90M Budget

members are appealing to the public to vote 'yes' on a budget they say is respectful to teachers, taxpayers, and most importantly, students.

The board on Monday night unanimously voted to put the in the hands of taxpayers on April 17. The average homeowner with a home assessed at $794,000 will pay an additional $195.50 for the 2012-2013 budget, one that contains no cuts – or additions – in instructional staff, and notably includes a new $340,000 K-8 science program and 2 percent salary increase to teachers.

"I support this budget," said 16-year trustee Sheila Brogan. "The increase in the property tax is 2 percent, [and] as we saw the total budget is increasing 1.8 percent."

The proposed budget keeps class sizes down, maintains facilities, updates facilities, and boosts curriculum at the , in math instruction, and various , officials said.

Board member Christina Krauss wondered what would happen if the budget checked in with a zero percent increase. According to Superintendent Daniel Fishbein, $3.2 million worth of cuts would need to be made to hit a zero percent tax increase and it would be "draconian" in scale.

Three teachers being laid off at each of the elementary schools would only cut $1 million; eighteen teachers from the high school would drop the budget by another million; and cuts in co-curriculars and athletics would slice the final $1.2 million, Fishbein estimated.

"You make cuts like that, that's not the school district that people want," Fishbein said. "You're cutting through a bone, not cutting to a bone."

The proposed 2012-2013 budget also marks the second year without staff cuts. In 2010-2011, in and led to the loss of a technology director, elementary Spanish and Reading Recovery programs, as well as administrators and support staff.

With a 20 percent increase in health care costs and the pressure of not exceeding the cap this year, there was simply no way of restoring cut positions or programs, much as they'd like, board members said.

The proposed 2012-2013 budget leaves the district in uncharted waters.

It's the first time in history the district is entering a second year without a settled contract, and . The current year accounts for a zero percent salary increase, which pangs teachers already irked by a state-mandated increase in contributions to health care costs (reaching up to 35 percent for some by year four).

Trustee Bob Hutton, who leads the Negotiating Committee with Brogan, said that zero figure was not done out of 'disrespect,' as teachers have said.

"It was based on the continuing constraints of our economic reality, the board's obligation to allocate resources so that all aspects of the district's operations continue to function," Hutton stated, adding the board wouldn't be able to present a budget without proposed staff cuts if not for the additional $1.3 million it's receiving from employee health contributions.

The two percent salary increase allotted for 2012-2013 can be accounted for in the upcoming budget, he said, pointing out there are certain realities all must face as negotiations continue – 55 percent of the total school budget is locked into teacher salaries and benefits, Hutton said.

"Balancing the needs and desires of all impacted parties is equally important and probably cannot be done in a way that completely satisfies everybody," he remarked.

The lack of a settled agreement with the REA union, now in its ninth month, puts the district in an awkward budgeting position.

"Since this covers $43 million in payroll costs plus expense of benefits, any deviations from budget assumptions could result in sizable budget variances," said member Vince Loncto, adding he supported the proposal.

In his address, Loncto pointed to other current unknowns, most notably the field and bridge maintenance issues. He reported $100,000 has been set aside for work to ; and $537,000 for , below the $615,000 spent in 2011-2012 (largely due to massive storm damage). Access to capital reserve and undesignated fund balance provide some backup options, Loncto said.

Though the public budget presentation was lightly attended, with most of the crowd being district employees and media, some residents voiced their opinion on the largest tax-driver for residents.

Charlie Reilly, a , called on the community to support the budget on April 17. Should the budget be voted down, the village council would set a new tax levy, currently at just under $83 million.

"I regard it as a very prudent budget," Reilly said. "It seems to me it's very amazing what has gotten done in a very difficult situation." Reilly praised the board for budgeting an increase in salary to the teachers as a point of "respect".

Resident Terry Anzano, however, didn't find the budget as prudent, saying the board's proposed 2 percent tax increase is "inappropriate". The health care, benefits costs are still too high, she said, voicing support for many of the debated in Trenton.

"I think the system as it stands needs to change and change radically," she said.

Ultimately, despite like many residents wanting to pay lower taxes, Krauss concluded it's the best that can be done without big losses to the school system.

"No one is wasting a dime of taxpayer's hard-earned money," she said.