In a sparsely attended meeting that lasted only about ten minutes this afternoon, a five-person quorum of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education voted unanimously on proposals to accept the offer of the Bridgewater-Raritan Employee Association (BREA).
The Board also voted to approve the budget for the 2010/2011 fiscal school year beginning July 1st. It now will be submitted to Trudy Doyle, the Somerset County Executive Superintendent for her sign-off and inclusion on the April 20th ballot where voters will have the final say.
In its revised contract agreement, the union membership, according to a statement released by Superintendent Michael Schilder, “agreed to contribute 1.5% of their salaries towards the cost of health care.” BREA members also gave up $403,000 of tuition reimbursements.
Union membership voted by an overwhelming margin of 2 to 1 in favor of these concessions.
The total cost of these give-backs is $1.4 million, but the amount is a wash in the expense budget and on the school tax rate because, in return, the Board agreed to restore teaching positions, as well as other programs slated for elimination in prior budget drafts.
The tax levy for the Bridgewater-Raritan School district will rise by 4.95% from last year. However, the Bridgewater Township school tax levy will go up by 5.42%, while the Raritan Borough school tax levy will go up by 3.90%.
This anomaly in school tax levies between the two municipalities is, according to Peter Starrs, School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, caused by three factors: One of them is a New Jersey proration formula, and the other two are the valuations and ratables for each municipality.
Sounds complicated and it is, but the percentages can swing from year to year with Raritan, in some years, getting a higher percent share.
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