By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
SOMERS POINT — The school district’s preliminary 2021-22 spending plan does not require a tax increase, according to a presentation March 17 during the Board of Education meeting.
Superintendent Michelle CarneyRay-Yoder presented the budget to the board, detailing the creation of the plan and what items factored into it.
She said the district was faced with a lot of unexpected COVID-19-related expenses, a continued loss of state aid under the Student Funding Reform Act of 2018 and falling enrollment.
The $21,818,163 budget includes a $16,862,146 operating budget, $3,974,197 in special revenue funds and $981,820 in debt service.
According to the presentation, the district has lost $423,627 in state aid since 2020, receiving $4,542,364 this year.
CarneyRay-Yoder said the district currently is $1.5 million over adequacy per the state formula, meaning it can expect another decrease in state aid for 2023.
To simplify the information, she said a budget is divided into four parts — operating budget, restricted funds, capital improvements and debt service.
The operating budget includes salaries, wages and other compensation; transportation; instructional supplies, resources and professional development; insurance; administration; facilities and other expenses.
Restricted funds include those provided by the state and federal governments.
The capital improvement fund is grant money for maintenance, repairs or upgrades to facilities. CarneyRay-Yoder said the district is expending the balance of this fund on replacement of a chiller at Jordan Road School and that no new capital projects are included in this year’s spending plan.
Debt service is the payment of loans, and includes money approved by referendum in 2011 and 2016.
Revenues in the spending plan include $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.
Enrollment dropped from 1,151 in 2008 to 758 in 2020, a loss of 393 students. The means the district no longer qualifies as “large,” further affecting its state aid.
Carney-Ray Yoder, who also is serving as acting preschool principal and director of special education at New York Avenue School until the end of June, said she is happy to report that funding for a new roof on Dawes Avenue School will have no impact on the school tax rate because the district has the money in its reserve fund. The addition of a solar array on the roof would be possible after the roof is replaced, she said, helping to reduce energy costs.
The budget includes funding for additional staff, summer programs and an increase in bandwidth to improve internet connectivity.
A public hearing on the spending plan is scheduled for 6 p.m. May 6 at Jordan Road School.