B-R BOE Votes to Give Some, Keep Some

This evening, at a special meeting called to discuss and to act upon disposition of the $1,331,545 in additional school aid granted by the New Jersey Department of Education, the School Board for the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District voted unanimously to allocate $600,000 of that amount for immediate real estate tax relief for the taxpayers of Bridgewater and Raritan.

Raritan Boro President Greg Lobell, and Board Member Ann Marie Mead who represents Raritan on the B-R BOE, both look on as Raritan Mayor Jo-Ann Liptak exchanges greetings with Board President Evan Lerner, on Monday evening at the conclusion of the meeting.

The remaining $731,545 will, in the words of Board President Evan Lerner, be “rolled over” into the 2012-2013 school year which begins next July 1, 2012.  Simply put, that sum will be reserved until the Board of Education begins to put together the budget for the 2012-2013 school year, at which time it will decide how those funds will be used.

Had the board decided to spend any of the $1,331,545 in the current budget, it would have had to revise it and then seek its approval by the new County Superintendent of Schools for Somerset County who was appointed by the Christie Administration. 

 The outcome of such a move would not have been assured, since Mr. Christie had urged school districts to use at least some of this new money for tax relief.

Furthermore, the Board was under pressure to make a decision quickly, since the councils for the Borough of Raritan and the Township of Bridgewater needed to know by 4:00 PM tomorrow, if the Board decided (as it did) to use some of this newly found cash for immediate taxpayer relief.

The meeting room at the Wade Administration Building where this meeting was held was filled to capacity with School District employees.  It was standing room only. 

Most seemed to be teachers.  They had gathered to make a strong case before the Board to use this unexpected increase in state aid for salary increases.  

Their union representatives also claimed that additional dollars are now available in the form of an over-budgeted line item for health care costs, which went down from a budgeted 33% to an actual 20% for the current 2011-2012 school year.

There is more, but this post represents the essentials and, I hope, provides you with a good summary of what happened.

Thanks for reading.  May the wind be at your back.

(Click on image for an enhanced view.)