Board Looks to Cuts, Tax Hike to Absorb Lost Aid

The Wyckoff school board may make up for its loss of state aid with a combination of budget cuts and a tax increase.

District administrators and board members are currently working to manage a  while minimizing its impact on both education in the schools and the tax levy.

Officials must decide "how much we believe we can absorb and how much we can pass off to the taxpayers," board President Daniel Moynihan said.

The Wyckoff Board of Education learned last week that it would receive no assistance from the state in drafting the 2010-11 budget after preparing for a 15 percent reduction, as warned by the Department of Education. Instead of such an across-the-board cut, Gov. Chris Christie proposed slashing aid by up to 5 percent of the total budget. The district was left with nothing as its aid doesn't even rise to 5 percent of the total budget, which had been projected to come in at $36,593,029 for 2010-11.

The spending plan, which had a planned $33,178,572 tax levy, was made within the confines of a 4 percent expenditure cap. However, the board could take advantage of a state waiver to exceed that cap, given the loss of state aid. Theoretically, the board could apply the entire $1.45 million loss to the tax levy, but Moynihan said that option isn't realistic.

"We can't ask the town to pony up another $1.5 million," he said.

Instead, the board and administration is working to slash further from a budget that had included virtually no new items, with an expenditure increase largely driven by contracted salaries and fixed costs. Decisions haven't been finalized, but the board could make up about half the $1.45 million cut in budgetary cost savings while applying the balance to the tax levy, Moynihan said, although "we don't want to get much higher than 4 percent," on the expenditure increase.

The board's Finance Committee and administration met this morning to discuss potential cuts and will meet with school principals on Tuesday to seek information on their priorities and needs as they look to make hard funding choices.

The board may defer more capital and maintenance projects to help make up the aid shortfall, although projects were already put off to put together the budget when drafters were anticipating a mere aid reduction. 

"Any further cuts to capital... will have a long-lasting impact," Moynihan said, as needs only become greater the longer projects are delayed.

Should the board look to cut programs, it would have to stay away from core subjects, but all else would be on the table, including after-school activities and world language programs, Moynihan said. He and business Administrator Alan Reiffe have said that staff cuts are possible, as well. 

"At the end of the day, we have to make hard decisions," the board president said. Those decisions largely come down to "which ones are going to be most palatable" and the least painful, he said.

Moynihan said it's "very painful to be walking away" as the district faces the aid cuts. His term is expiring, and he does not seek another term, citing general fatigue and the desire to spend more time with family.

Going forward, the board, under new leadership, could have greater challenges than it even faces now. Christie, as part of his plans to limit tax increases, has called for a constitutional amendment to institute a hard expenditure cap of 2.5 percent. Given how much of the budget is driven by contracts and fixed costs (salaries and benefits represent more than 70 percent of the drafted 2010-11 budget; special education and tuition is expected to cost approximately $2 million), a 2.5 percent cap "would be a very hard reality" for a board, Moynihan said.

The budget will be up for a vote on April 20. Moynihan will lead a budget hearing at 7 p.m. April 1 at Eisenhower Middle School, where the final budget will be adopted. Presentations will also be made to the Parent Teacher Organizations as well as other groups, and the board plans to send out a budget newsletter.