If you are wondering how this afternoon’s vote by the membership of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association on wage and/or benefit concessions had even the slightest chance of ever taking place, you have to pay attention to a real but rather non-obvious source.
Keep in mind that as recently as on the night of March 23rd in the auditorium at the Middle School in Bridgewater, the head of the teachers’, secretaries’ and custodians’ association had clearly acknowledged before the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education that he “will not accept what has been proposed” by the B-R BOE.
What happened between then and now to make the union leadership change its collective mind? Easy: Very worried and angry parents with children in the B-R School District.
An informal network of parents and individual teachers who felt left out of the process quickly coalesced behind the scenes into an influence that the combined strength of local and state (NJEA) representation could not contain.
Famed Harvard economist J. K. Galbraith once explained this phenomenon. He wrote that when one side in a situation exercises undue influence, there often arises an equally forceful and opposing element. He called this phenomenon countervailing power.
This afternoon, the BREA membership will vote on concessions. Whether that vote is for or against the proposal before it, the entire Bridgewater and Raritan communities will have observed the effect of that countervailing force in action.
At least for this one moment in time, a determined network of parents and individual teachers made their voices loud enough to compel them to be effectively heard.
Showing posts with label B-R School Budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B-R School Budget. Show all posts
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Tentative Agreement Reached with BREA
Friday night, at a special session of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education at the High School auditorium, Board President Jeffrey Brookner disclosed that a provisional agreement had been reached with representatives of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association on wage and/or benefits concessions.
Mr. Brookner stated that the Board Negotiations Team and BREA representatives had reached this agreement only about an hour before the start of the public meeting. It calls for employees of the association to give up $1.4 million in concessions, in exchange for the Board’s reinstating of a like amount of budget cuts in the form of positions and program restorations.
Superintendent Dr. Michael Schilder described to the audience where these job and program restorations would tentatively be made in the budget. Representatives of the BREA have not yet identified the nature of the $1.4M in givebacks.
This provisional agreement needs to be ratified by the membership of the BREA before the Board of Education can act upon it. A ratification meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, March 29th at 4 PM in the High School auditorium, where the membership will be presented with the details.
On Wednesday, March 31st, at the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville, the Board of Education will meet at 8:00 AM to vote on a final budget. The meeting will be short, as the Board is expected to take a straight up or down vote.
Mr. Brookner stated that the Board Negotiations Team and BREA representatives had reached this agreement only about an hour before the start of the public meeting. It calls for employees of the association to give up $1.4 million in concessions, in exchange for the Board’s reinstating of a like amount of budget cuts in the form of positions and program restorations.
Superintendent Dr. Michael Schilder described to the audience where these job and program restorations would tentatively be made in the budget. Representatives of the BREA have not yet identified the nature of the $1.4M in givebacks.
This provisional agreement needs to be ratified by the membership of the BREA before the Board of Education can act upon it. A ratification meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, March 29th at 4 PM in the High School auditorium, where the membership will be presented with the details.
On Wednesday, March 31st, at the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville, the Board of Education will meet at 8:00 AM to vote on a final budget. The meeting will be short, as the Board is expected to take a straight up or down vote.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
BREA Members Authorize Talks with B-R BOE
Today, the membership of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association voted to authorize its leadership to meet with the Negotiations Team of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education for the purpose of re-opening contract talks.
If there is still time to agree and to make changes, this will be a last-minute deal that should, if it comes out right, have a better-than-currently-envisioned impact on the level of the 2010/2011 expense budget of the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, its employees, and Bridgewater-Raritan taxpayers.
But nothing is over until it’s over.
The timeline is now extremely tight because, as previously mentioned, the B-R BOE is scheduled to vote on a final budget tomorrow evening for submission to the County Superintendent early next week.
Folding last-minute changes into a budget of this size and complexity – unless they are minor – will require a major push by the School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, should an agreement be reached.
Maybe this comes under the practice of getting everyone into a room and not letting anybody out until a consensus is reached.
If there is still time to agree and to make changes, this will be a last-minute deal that should, if it comes out right, have a better-than-currently-envisioned impact on the level of the 2010/2011 expense budget of the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, its employees, and Bridgewater-Raritan taxpayers.
But nothing is over until it’s over.
The timeline is now extremely tight because, as previously mentioned, the B-R BOE is scheduled to vote on a final budget tomorrow evening for submission to the County Superintendent early next week.
Folding last-minute changes into a budget of this size and complexity – unless they are minor – will require a major push by the School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, should an agreement be reached.
Maybe this comes under the practice of getting everyone into a room and not letting anybody out until a consensus is reached.
Wage Concessions Update for B-R Schools
Sometime subsequent to Tuesday’s meeting of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education at the Middle School and the posting of this brief message, representatives of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association decided to poll its association membership for authority to re-enter negotiations with the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education.
Time is extraordinarily short for a decision, because the B-R BOE has to finalize a budget and vote on it by tomorrow evening. The final budget needs to be submitted to Trudy Doyle, the County Superintendent of Schools early next week.
I don’t know if the voting is complete (it should be by now), what the results are, or if an offer has been presented to the B-R BOE Negotiations Team. Or whether time has run out.
If the BREA membership authorized its leadership to proffer an offer, chances are very high that it now sits before Board of Education representatives for consideration and subsequent inclusion into the budget process.
Time is extraordinarily short for a decision, because the B-R BOE has to finalize a budget and vote on it by tomorrow evening. The final budget needs to be submitted to Trudy Doyle, the County Superintendent of Schools early next week.
I don’t know if the voting is complete (it should be by now), what the results are, or if an offer has been presented to the B-R BOE Negotiations Team. Or whether time has run out.
If the BREA membership authorized its leadership to proffer an offer, chances are very high that it now sits before Board of Education representatives for consideration and subsequent inclusion into the budget process.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
B-R BOE Budget Reduction Options
A few refreshers: The preliminary budget for the 2010/2011 school year has been submitted to the Somerset County Superintendent of Schools, Trudy Doyle. That budget does not include the last round of $4.4 million of cuts due to the final reduction of state aid. That is why the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education has to decide this week how to handle the final reduction.
The B-R BOE has already presented the four options below to the public:
1. Pass all or a portion of the cost onto the taxpayer by invoking an automatic tax waiver, exceeding the 4% cap on the tax levy. That final revised budget would still have to be approved by the County Superintendent of Schools before being placed on April’s ballot.
2. Insert additional spending proposals on the ballot as separate spending question(s) for voter consideration in the April 20th election, also exceeding the 4% cap. This requires the County Superintendent’s approval prior to budget insertion, and would also require at least 60% voter approval.
3. Implement some combination of the first two options, exceeding the 4% cap as well.
4. Maintain the tax levy increase at its current 4% cap level by absorbing the $4.4M as spending reductions.
However, there is a fifth option that was not part of the mix presented by the B-R BOE last Thursday evening: That is the possibility of still holding the three bargaining units, the BREA (teachers), the BRPA (principals), and the BRSA (supervisors), to a wage freeze. The Board President has made it clear that he and the Negotiations Team had been in discussions on the topic, but could not disclose any specific data.
Yet there are clues. BREA President Steve Beatty has made public statements of his desire to get involved. At the B-R BOE meeting on February 23rd, for example, Mr. Beatty expressed his wish for the BREA to, “…Let us help in restoring funding . . . let us do the right thing, not the popular thing.” He also mentioned the word “lobbying” in his statement to the Board.
Later, during the public portion of the March 18th B-R BOE meeting, Mr. Beatty reinforced that view when he said, “Let us in the process. Let us be part of the process,” he asked.
It sounds good, depending on the results and the nature of the process. But the idea of a wage freeze on next year’s 4.35% scheduled wage hike sounds better.
At least one other option can be imputed from the nature of what we already know. And that is the possibility of the B-R BOE and the bargaining units linking wage concessions to a waiver of the 4% spending cap, or the inclusion of a second ballot question also exceeding the 4% spending cap. Not a good idea.
The B-R BOE has already presented the four options below to the public:
1. Pass all or a portion of the cost onto the taxpayer by invoking an automatic tax waiver, exceeding the 4% cap on the tax levy. That final revised budget would still have to be approved by the County Superintendent of Schools before being placed on April’s ballot.
2. Insert additional spending proposals on the ballot as separate spending question(s) for voter consideration in the April 20th election, also exceeding the 4% cap. This requires the County Superintendent’s approval prior to budget insertion, and would also require at least 60% voter approval.
3. Implement some combination of the first two options, exceeding the 4% cap as well.
4. Maintain the tax levy increase at its current 4% cap level by absorbing the $4.4M as spending reductions.
However, there is a fifth option that was not part of the mix presented by the B-R BOE last Thursday evening: That is the possibility of still holding the three bargaining units, the BREA (teachers), the BRPA (principals), and the BRSA (supervisors), to a wage freeze. The Board President has made it clear that he and the Negotiations Team had been in discussions on the topic, but could not disclose any specific data.
Yet there are clues. BREA President Steve Beatty has made public statements of his desire to get involved. At the B-R BOE meeting on February 23rd, for example, Mr. Beatty expressed his wish for the BREA to, “…Let us help in restoring funding . . . let us do the right thing, not the popular thing.” He also mentioned the word “lobbying” in his statement to the Board.
Later, during the public portion of the March 18th B-R BOE meeting, Mr. Beatty reinforced that view when he said, “Let us in the process. Let us be part of the process,” he asked.
It sounds good, depending on the results and the nature of the process. But the idea of a wage freeze on next year’s 4.35% scheduled wage hike sounds better.
At least one other option can be imputed from the nature of what we already know. And that is the possibility of the B-R BOE and the bargaining units linking wage concessions to a waiver of the 4% spending cap, or the inclusion of a second ballot question also exceeding the 4% spending cap. Not a good idea.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Simmering Resentment over Wage Hikes
The chorus of demands for the Bridgewater-Raritan Schools administration (including principals and supervisors) to set the example by enacting a voluntary wage freeze on their own compensation has been growing louder as the days go by. That strong sentiment was made abundantly clear at last Thursday’s meeting at the JFK School in Raritan Borough, when many motivated speakers challenged the administration on that topic.
The audience consisted largely of parents with school-age children, as well as a very large contingent of bargaining unit staff personnel who made their presence known. But there were also several residents without kids in the school system. It took a lot of guts to get up to that mike and declare that this is the time for a wage freeze.
The idea that this community needs to push back on wage hikes that it can no longer afford is not new. Nor is it simply my own. A year ago, on March 11, 2009, I wrote a blog post highlighting an example from the administrator of another school district. Below is an excerpt:
So there you have it.
Getting the three Bridgewater-Raritan schools bargaining units to see the economic light is like trying to start a camp fire in the rain.
The largest of these groups, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association has been meeting in the last 24 hours with its membership to consider the issue. At Thursday’s meeting, Board member Evan Lerner, who is on the Negotiations Team, publicly asked to meet with representatives of the BREA.
That meeting should happen on Monday, one day before the full board of education is scheduled to meet to refine its budgeting strategy. The other two members of the Negotiations Team are Board President Jeffrey Brookner and Board Member Lynne Hurley.
Meanwhile, the other two significant bargaining units – the first representing school principals and the other representing school supervisors – are hanging tough. Board President Jeffrey Brookner told Thursday evening’s public assembly that these groups have not yet given up a dime of their scheduled pay increases – nada, rien, niente. Thanks for checking in. Stay engaged
Sunday evening, March 21st revisions: This post has been revised to correct the fact that the Bridgewater-Raritan Negotiations Team consists of board members Jeffrey Brookner, Evan Lerner and Lynne Hurley. Board policy gives the board president flexibility in appointments. Cindy Cullen, Jill Gladstone and Arvind Mathur were previously identified as being on the Negotiations Committee. This confusion arose due to an incorrect posting and titling of committee assignments found on the official Bridgewater-Raritan web site.
The audience consisted largely of parents with school-age children, as well as a very large contingent of bargaining unit staff personnel who made their presence known. But there were also several residents without kids in the school system. It took a lot of guts to get up to that mike and declare that this is the time for a wage freeze.
The idea that this community needs to push back on wage hikes that it can no longer afford is not new. Nor is it simply my own. A year ago, on March 11, 2009, I wrote a blog post highlighting an example from the administrator of another school district. Below is an excerpt:
So there you have it.
“In a front-page Courier News article today, Hillsboro Schools Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer III indicated that he would forsake his salary increase for the 2009-2010 school year. Finally! Someone at the top of the administrative chain has decided to do what has been evident to just about every responsible New Jersey taxpaying citizen: Hold the line on salary.
With respect to the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, I’ve had it in mind to write that the administration, beginning with Superintendent of Schools, Dr. J. Michael Schilder and School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, Peter Starrs, should be among the first to give up their pay raises. Their example should be followed by all other leading educators in the Bridgewater-Raritan School District.
I never thought that a superintendent from another nearby school district would be the first to do it. The example has been set, but it’s only a beginning
Getting the three Bridgewater-Raritan schools bargaining units to see the economic light is like trying to start a camp fire in the rain.
The largest of these groups, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association has been meeting in the last 24 hours with its membership to consider the issue. At Thursday’s meeting, Board member Evan Lerner, who is on the Negotiations Team, publicly asked to meet with representatives of the BREA.
That meeting should happen on Monday, one day before the full board of education is scheduled to meet to refine its budgeting strategy. The other two members of the Negotiations Team are Board President Jeffrey Brookner and Board Member Lynne Hurley.
Meanwhile, the other two significant bargaining units – the first representing school principals and the other representing school supervisors – are hanging tough. Board President Jeffrey Brookner told Thursday evening’s public assembly that these groups have not yet given up a dime of their scheduled pay increases – nada, rien, niente. Thanks for checking in. Stay engaged
Sunday evening, March 21st revisions: This post has been revised to correct the fact that the Bridgewater-Raritan Negotiations Team consists of board members Jeffrey Brookner, Evan Lerner and Lynne Hurley. Board policy gives the board president flexibility in appointments. Cindy Cullen, Jill Gladstone and Arvind Mathur were previously identified as being on the Negotiations Committee. This confusion arose due to an incorrect posting and titling of committee assignments found on the official Bridgewater-Raritan web site.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Bridgewater-Raritan School Board Ponders Budget Cuts
When the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education met last night, it was in shock over having to explain to its audience at the John F. Kennedy School ways to deal out an additional $4.4 million in reductions necessitated by the last round of state aid cuts.
At issue was whether to swallow the entire amount while keeping the tax levy at its current state-mandated 4% cap, or to implement one or more options presented by Superintendent Michael Schilder.
The options are no panacea, and it’s important for residents to understand what they are, how they work, and what their implications are upon the Bridgewater-Raritan real estate tax levy:
1. The Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education can legally invoke an automatic waiver to offset state aid reductions. The cost would be built into the budget and would increase the tax levy beyond the present 4%. This requires no state or county approval and could be implemented next week by the B-R BOE to offset all or a portion of state aid cuts, if the board chose to. Voters would cast their yes or no vote for this in April. We’re talking potentially millions.
2. Place one or more spending proposals on the April 20th ballot to offset lost state aid. Such question(s) would be in addition to a base budget and would also increase the tax levy beyond the 4% state cap. However, in order for such a strategy to be a go, it needs approval from Somerset County Schools Superintendent, Trudy Doyle. We’re still talking potentially millions.
3. Employ a combination of the first two approaches.
4. Don’t alter the proposed budget. It already includes $8.8M in reductions. Lock in the school tax increase at 4%, the state cap. This means more expense reductions, a wage freeze or other cuts to cover the last round of state aid cuts.
The practical effect of implementing any of the first three options is clear: Bridgewater and Raritan residents would, in effect, be asked on April 20th to increase their own tax bills beyond 4% to pay for additional state-imposed cuts in aid.
Just before the public came to the mike last night, a straw poll of board members indicated that the 9-member body was equally split over how to proceed with these alternatives, with one board member expressing no opinion. A decision needs to be made next week.
Next Post: Simmering resentment over wage hikes.
At issue was whether to swallow the entire amount while keeping the tax levy at its current state-mandated 4% cap, or to implement one or more options presented by Superintendent Michael Schilder.
The options are no panacea, and it’s important for residents to understand what they are, how they work, and what their implications are upon the Bridgewater-Raritan real estate tax levy:
1. The Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education can legally invoke an automatic waiver to offset state aid reductions. The cost would be built into the budget and would increase the tax levy beyond the present 4%. This requires no state or county approval and could be implemented next week by the B-R BOE to offset all or a portion of state aid cuts, if the board chose to. Voters would cast their yes or no vote for this in April. We’re talking potentially millions.
2. Place one or more spending proposals on the April 20th ballot to offset lost state aid. Such question(s) would be in addition to a base budget and would also increase the tax levy beyond the 4% state cap. However, in order for such a strategy to be a go, it needs approval from Somerset County Schools Superintendent, Trudy Doyle. We’re still talking potentially millions.
3. Employ a combination of the first two approaches.
4. Don’t alter the proposed budget. It already includes $8.8M in reductions. Lock in the school tax increase at 4%, the state cap. This means more expense reductions, a wage freeze or other cuts to cover the last round of state aid cuts.
The practical effect of implementing any of the first three options is clear: Bridgewater and Raritan residents would, in effect, be asked on April 20th to increase their own tax bills beyond 4% to pay for additional state-imposed cuts in aid.
Just before the public came to the mike last night, a straw poll of board members indicated that the 9-member body was equally split over how to proceed with these alternatives, with one board member expressing no opinion. A decision needs to be made next week.
Next Post: Simmering resentment over wage hikes.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
B-R Schools to Incur Additional $4.4 Million Budget Hit
Today, Governor Christie’s administration announced the last round of cuts in state aid to New Jersey school districts for the 2010/2011 school year beginning July 1st, 2010. Consequently, the Bridgewater-Raritan School District was notified that it will incur another reduction in state aid of $4.4 million, on top of previous cuts.
Tonight, 8:00 PM, at the John F. Kennedy School in Raritan the B-R BOE and administration will present another pared-down version of the budget. None of the previous presentations to the public – the latest of which was on February 23rd – provide room for a reduction as steep as those necessitated by the State of New Jersey’s cuts announced today.
I expect a very large turnout of Bridgewater-Raritan residents and a big group of staff and union representation. The February 23rd meeting was standing-room only.
Jeffrey Brookner, President of the B-R BOE had sent letters previously asking all bargaining units, including those representing teachers, principals and supervisors to re-open contract negotiations. The purpose was to reduce or rescind the 4.35% pay raises included in the proposed 2010/2011 school budget now under stress. Total wage increases are reported to be worth $2.7 million.
To date, no information has been made public about the responses of those bargaining units to Mr. Brookner’s request. The only concessions made so far have been from a small group of non-bargaining administration officials to reduce their pay raises by 2%, or about $60,000 in total.
As of this writing, the impact on Bridgewater and Raritan real estate tax levies is uncertain. However, at the time of the latest budget draft on the 23rd, the combined tax levy for both municipalities was still going up by 4%, the maximum allowed by New Jersey law.
Tonight, 8:00 PM, at the John F. Kennedy School in Raritan the B-R BOE and administration will present another pared-down version of the budget. None of the previous presentations to the public – the latest of which was on February 23rd – provide room for a reduction as steep as those necessitated by the State of New Jersey’s cuts announced today.
I expect a very large turnout of Bridgewater-Raritan residents and a big group of staff and union representation. The February 23rd meeting was standing-room only.
Jeffrey Brookner, President of the B-R BOE had sent letters previously asking all bargaining units, including those representing teachers, principals and supervisors to re-open contract negotiations. The purpose was to reduce or rescind the 4.35% pay raises included in the proposed 2010/2011 school budget now under stress. Total wage increases are reported to be worth $2.7 million.
To date, no information has been made public about the responses of those bargaining units to Mr. Brookner’s request. The only concessions made so far have been from a small group of non-bargaining administration officials to reduce their pay raises by 2%, or about $60,000 in total.
As of this writing, the impact on Bridgewater and Raritan real estate tax levies is uncertain. However, at the time of the latest budget draft on the 23rd, the combined tax levy for both municipalities was still going up by 4%, the maximum allowed by New Jersey law.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Bridgewater-Raritan School Budget Arithmetic
Even with my background, I find that one of the hardest things to do is to try to absorb all of the intricacies of a school budget presentation. I find that to be especially true when my first exposure is to observe a 19-page PowerPoint pitch which summarizes the impact of a larger 59-page detailed budget handout.
I’m not complaining. The administration has done its best to present data in a very short period of time, one which of necessity does not permit the listener to ask questions as the presenter is speaking. Although there is a 5-minute opportunity to ask questions later in the open-to-the-public portion of the meeting, that’s hardly enough. Besides, the atmosphere in this school district at the moment is very much emotionally charged.
With that as a caveat, let me do my best to summarize my understanding of where the district finds itself financially, and what the impact is on your pocketbook.
In December, 2009, the B-R BOE voted to accept a preliminary budget of $136.9 million for the school year beginning July 1, 2010. As I mentioned in one of my prior blog posts, this number rarely changes and is usually presented to the public in the following April’s school election as is. Not this year. Enter Chris Christie as our new governor. He is determined to close a state budget gap.
Christie cancelled $4M of anticipated state aid to this district. (Ouch, that hurts!): A frenetic scramble began to lower expenses. In the first round of cuts on February 23rd, the B-R BOE sliced $2M from the budget by reducing expenses and by pulling back surplus funds that had been allocated to the 2011/2012 school year’s budget: Pouf! Gone, just like that.
Tuesday evening, at the JFK School in Raritan, the board announced a second round of $2.4M in cuts, resulting in a total reduction of $4.4M so far. This drops the current proposed budget expenditures to $132.5M, a 0.51% reduction (one-half of one percent) from last year’s actual school expenditures of $133.2M.
According to Michael Schilder and Peter Starrs this is the first time that there has been an expense reduction to total B-R school expenses since at least 1992/93.
You might think that an expense budget lower than last year’s would result in a reduction to your real estate bill in Bridgewater and Raritan. But hold on. Your taxes are still going up. The total tax levy is increasing from last year’s $113.4M assessment to $117.9M, a 4% increase, the maximum permitted under New Jersey law. This means that your tax rate per $100 of assessed value will go up by 5.2% to $1.22 if you live in Bridgewater; and, by 3.3% to $1.27 if you live in Raritan.
Why? State aid for Bridgewater-Raritan is $9.9M for 2010/2011, higher even than last year’s state aid distribution of $8.7M. However, according to numbers presented last night, the B-R BOE School District was banking on $12.3M in state aid, as it built the first draft of the 2010/2011 budget. Therefore, despite expense levels close to those of last year, it would take further cuts to offset wage increases and lost state aid.
Presumably, I haven’t bored you with numbers. Remember: every dollar of reductions in this budget has in some way affected a BR-BOE employee. Thanks for reading and remain engaged.
I’m not complaining. The administration has done its best to present data in a very short period of time, one which of necessity does not permit the listener to ask questions as the presenter is speaking. Although there is a 5-minute opportunity to ask questions later in the open-to-the-public portion of the meeting, that’s hardly enough. Besides, the atmosphere in this school district at the moment is very much emotionally charged.
With that as a caveat, let me do my best to summarize my understanding of where the district finds itself financially, and what the impact is on your pocketbook.
In December, 2009, the B-R BOE voted to accept a preliminary budget of $136.9 million for the school year beginning July 1, 2010. As I mentioned in one of my prior blog posts, this number rarely changes and is usually presented to the public in the following April’s school election as is. Not this year. Enter Chris Christie as our new governor. He is determined to close a state budget gap.
Christie cancelled $4M of anticipated state aid to this district. (Ouch, that hurts!): A frenetic scramble began to lower expenses. In the first round of cuts on February 23rd, the B-R BOE sliced $2M from the budget by reducing expenses and by pulling back surplus funds that had been allocated to the 2011/2012 school year’s budget: Pouf! Gone, just like that.
Tuesday evening, at the JFK School in Raritan, the board announced a second round of $2.4M in cuts, resulting in a total reduction of $4.4M so far. This drops the current proposed budget expenditures to $132.5M, a 0.51% reduction (one-half of one percent) from last year’s actual school expenditures of $133.2M.
According to Michael Schilder and Peter Starrs this is the first time that there has been an expense reduction to total B-R school expenses since at least 1992/93.
You might think that an expense budget lower than last year’s would result in a reduction to your real estate bill in Bridgewater and Raritan. But hold on. Your taxes are still going up. The total tax levy is increasing from last year’s $113.4M assessment to $117.9M, a 4% increase, the maximum permitted under New Jersey law. This means that your tax rate per $100 of assessed value will go up by 5.2% to $1.22 if you live in Bridgewater; and, by 3.3% to $1.27 if you live in Raritan.
Why? State aid for Bridgewater-Raritan is $9.9M for 2010/2011, higher even than last year’s state aid distribution of $8.7M. However, according to numbers presented last night, the B-R BOE School District was banking on $12.3M in state aid, as it built the first draft of the 2010/2011 budget. Therefore, despite expense levels close to those of last year, it would take further cuts to offset wage increases and lost state aid.
Presumably, I haven’t bored you with numbers. Remember: every dollar of reductions in this budget has in some way affected a BR-BOE employee. Thanks for reading and remain engaged.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Two Challengers Vie for B-R School Board Positions
On April 21st, challengers Patrick J. Breslin and Stan Serafin of Bridgewater hope to garner two of the three seats up for grabs on the Bridgewater-Raritan School Board. Similarly, the three Bridgewater incumbents, Richard J. Guss, Cynthia Cullen, and Christine Schneider hope to remain in place.
On Tuesday evening, March 31st, at 8:00 pm, following a closed-door performance evaluation of the superintendent and the board secretary, there is a regular meeting of the B-R School Board at the Wade Building in Martinsville.
The single most important item on the agenda is a presentation and public hearing on the 2009-2010 school budget. It was made public months ago as a preliminary budget, but nothing has changed, and $133.2 million will be the final number unless, in a last minute move to secure the budget’s approval by voters, the board and administration present a significantly pared-down version.
So far, it’s been a quiet campaign for the election of board representatives, but a big push is quietly taking place for the budget’s passage.
The weight of the campaign’s inertia favors the three incumbent board members who are likely to retain their seats, unless Messrs. Breslin and Serafin wage a more rigorous campaign, or unless there is a budget backlash.
On Tuesday evening, March 31st, at 8:00 pm, following a closed-door performance evaluation of the superintendent and the board secretary, there is a regular meeting of the B-R School Board at the Wade Building in Martinsville.
The single most important item on the agenda is a presentation and public hearing on the 2009-2010 school budget. It was made public months ago as a preliminary budget, but nothing has changed, and $133.2 million will be the final number unless, in a last minute move to secure the budget’s approval by voters, the board and administration present a significantly pared-down version.
So far, it’s been a quiet campaign for the election of board representatives, but a big push is quietly taking place for the budget’s passage.
The weight of the campaign’s inertia favors the three incumbent board members who are likely to retain their seats, unless Messrs. Breslin and Serafin wage a more rigorous campaign, or unless there is a budget backlash.
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