SOMERS POINT — The local school tax rate is expected to remain the same under a budget Superintendent Michelle CarneyRay-Yoder and Business Administrator Julie Gallagher presented to the Board of Education on March 17.
The tax rate for the 2022-23 school year would remain at 98.4 cents per $100 of assessed value. If adopted as presented, this would be the second straight year with no increase in the tax rate.
The 2021-22 spending plan totaled $21,818,163, including $16,862,146 the general fund, $3,974,197 in special revenue funds and $981,820 in debt service. Revenues were $10,392,770 in local taxes, state aid and budgeted fund balance of $627,950 from the operating budget and $400,000 from the maintenance reserve.
The 2022-23 budget includes $15,802,849 in revenues from a tax levy of $10,392,770, state aid of $4,405,461 and $530,426 in fund balance — $400,000 of which is from surplus — as well as tuition and Medicaid aid.
The district’s enrollment continues to decline, dropping from 1,204 in fall 2009 to 728 in fall 2021, a loss of 476, or nearly 40 percent.
Also dropping is the district’s state aid, which Gallagher said is in the third year of a five-year adjustment period under the School Funding Reform Act.
State funding consists of $3,579,957 in Educational Adequacy Aid, $568,696 in special education aid, $142,184 in transportation aid and $114,624 in security aid.
The district received $4.96 million in 2020, $4.54 million for 2022 and is expected to receive just $3.58 million for 2023.
The tax levy makes up 66 percent of the budget, with state aid making up 27.9 percent, fund balance 3.4 percent and maintenance 2.5 percent, according to the presentation.
Gallagher said much of a school district’s budget is required spending, leaving little that can actually be adjusted.
For instance, expenditures include staff at 55.4 percent, benefits at 23.1 percent and utilities/insurance at 6.9 percent, which leaves 14.5 percent, or $2,293,660, that could possibly be reduced, she said.
That money pays for regular and special education instruction, tuition, transportation, athletic and co-curricular activities, instruction support and custodial services.
Other revenues come from federal funding. The district will receive $3,639,565 in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief as well as $1,241,540 in preschool education aid.
The district continues to pay debt service on past capital projects. A total of $966,020 will be paid in this budget year, including $742,829 from taxes and $222,080 in state aid.
Gallagher broke that down further. Payments will be $320,520 on the $3,443,000 project bonded in 2011 and $653,175 on the project bonded in 2016. The former is set to expire in 2026 and the latter in 2037.
She said no capital projects are anticipated in the upcoming budget year.
Facilities improvements will include painting, installation of HVAC controls aimed at reducing energy costs, preventive maintenance and cosmetic restoration, as well as the purchase of energy management/asset management software.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff