By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
LINWOOD — The school district’s proposed budget calls for a 2.7-cent tax rate increase, or an additional $27 on each $100,000 of assessed value.
Superintendent Brian Pruitt presented the plan to the Linwood Board of Education on Wednesday, March 17.
The spending plan includes $15,000,713 in the general fund, $579,600 in the special revenue fund and $225,075 in debt payments. The total tax levy is $13,060,033.
The owner of an averaged-assessed home in Linwood, which is $294,769, would see an increase of about $80 for the city school budget.
The Atlantic County budget is projected to increase the tax rate 1.8 cents, adding another $53 for an average-assessed home. Mainland Regional High School introduced its budget the same night as Linwood, calling for a .1-cent decrease in the city’s portion of the tax rate.
Last year in Linwood, where the average home price was $298,855, the average tax bill was $10,165, with the school tax making up 57.9 percent, or $5,886.
Southern New Jersey has realized a steady decline in taxable value for the past decade.
In 2016, Linwood’s ratable base was $978,750,200. In 2021, it had fallen to $930,606,100. As property values drop, taxing entities have to collect more just to stay even with the previous year.
The tax levy accounts for 85.6 percent of the budget, with state aid at 7.7 percent.
Pruitt discussed the loss of state aid and how it affects the budget. He said the district lost about $150,000 this year, one of the largest losses percentagewise since Gov. Phil Murphy changed the state’s funding formula in 2018.
At the time, Pruitt quickly joined a statewide coalition of school administrators urging legislators to overturn the Student Funding Reform Act.
According to a news release from the Governor’s Office, it was the first change to the school funding formula in 10 years. It eliminated adjustment aid and state aid growth gaps and allowed adjustments to tax growth limitations for certain school districts.
The bill had a drastic effect on many school districts, including Linwood, where state aid decreased 2.73 percent in the first year. At the time, the school district was projected to lose about $750,000 over six years.
Unanticipated spending related to the COVID-19 pandemic also factored into the budget.
According to the presentation, the district had to fund two new staff members at a cost of $55,210; new technology for remote instruction, $31,760; monitors for return to school phase 2, $32,190; PPE, $60,000; Chromebooks for staff members, $30262; MERV filters for the HVAC system, $10,000; and costs for return to school phase 3, $36,000; for a total of $255,422.
Pruitt said the administration used local funds, support from the Linwood Education Foundation and federal monies to be able to support those costs.
Under appropriations, salaries and benefits account for 82 percent of the budget.
The district’s cost per pupil is about $19,000, or about $4,000 less than the state average.
Capital projects in the budget include technology upgrades, facility and maintenance upkeep, replacement of aging ventilators, HVAC repairs and upgrades, LED lighting and renovation to the cafetorium at Belhaven Middle School.
A public hearing and final vote on the budget are scheduled for April 28.