The Bridgewater-Raritan School District has traditionally followed a fiscal practice of annually setting aside an unallocated amount of cash in its budget. That amount, not initially charged against any specific expense line items, is commonly knows as “surplus,” “rainy day fund” or, more derogatorily, has been also labeled as “a slush fund.”
However it is described, the surplus-fund apple cart was quickly upset statewide, when Governor Christie announced that he was withholding further monies from New Jersey school districts. With Christie’s announcement, the anticipated $4 million in aid to the B-R School District from Trenton has evaporated.
Consequently, planning for the Bridgewater-Raritan school budget has been thrown into disarray, and the Administration and School Board are now required to hustle under uncertain conditions and to revamp the preliminary budget.
To make up for this loss of state funding, the budget draft for the next fiscal year (2010/2011) beginning on July 1, has been reduced from $136.9 million to $132.5 million, as of Tuesday, February 23rd. Keep in mind that in the past, preliminary budgets have rarely been reduced, but presented to voters unaltered in the April election.
The actual operating budget for the current school year ending on June 30th 2010 is $133.2 million, or $0.7 million higher that the preliminary $132.5 million figure presented to the public last Tuesday for the next school year. Therefore, you might think this means a reduction in your real estate taxes.
But don’t count on taking this to the bank– these numbers are anything but final and further mandates may be imposed on school districts by Trenton.
B-R School Superintendent Michael Schilder described several other cloudy scenarios in his Tuesday evening presentation. According to him, “These cuts are devastating, the likes of which this community has never seen . . . a real first,” he went on to explain. “The deeper the cuts are, the more the (real estate) tax goes up.” This seems to be a clear signal that any more mandates imposed by Trenton will simply be added to your real estate tax bill.
Furthermore: The 4.35% wage hike scheduled to go into effect on July 1st for the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association is still on the books.
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