Bridging the Gap

Collegiality and civilized discussion prevailed among the municipal councils of Bridgewater Township, Raritan Borough and the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education last night in the meeting room of Bridgewater’s new municipal complex.

Nonetheless, it was evident from comments made by officials of the three groups that there is still a long way to go to reach agreement on an acceptable school budget-reduction number.

In remarks at the outset of the meeting, Bridgewater Council President Matthew Moench said that “the council has not decided on a number.” In reference to what seems to have become an iconic budget-reduction target e.g., the $2.4 million which “corresponds to a (one-year) wage freeze,” Mr. Moench added that, “it could be more, it could be less.”

Reading from a prepared statement, Bridgewater-Raritan School Board President Jeffrey Brookner outlined the cuts that were already made since the budget was originally proposed in mid-December, 2009. Perhaps referring to the tripartite, 7-person committee that I discussed in my previous post, he said, “We will debate whether even more cuts are needed. The answer, he added, is simple . . . (we can absorb) $500,000 from recent retirements. Any more cuts will negatively impact education.”

The $500K to which Mr. Brookner was referring is known in education circles as ‘breakage.’ It represents the difference between the higher salaries of long-tenured personnel who retire, and the lower salaries of their replacements. It’s an even larger number if there are no replacements.

However, ‘breakage’ is found money and should be kept off the table in the committee discussions. That $500K will most likely grow to what could be $1 million or more by September, especially if Governor Christie extends the notification time to encourage more high-salaried staff to retire between now and the start of the next school year.

‘Breakage’ is not a budget-cut line item and it should not be considered as a reduction to the 2010/2011 school budget. That would be the easy way out and it leaves no buffer for next year. That brings us back to the possibility of a $2.4 million wage-freeze.