State
law limits school budgets
Friday, January 20, 206 • By
Kat Main • The Express-Times
Caps on school spending set by New Jersey
law are complicating contract negotiations statewide, said
Mike Yaple, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards
Association.
"There's so little flexibility in the
school budget. The (law) is making matters more difficult
for districts," Yaple said.
Signed into law in 2004 by former Gov.
Jim McGreevey, the bill was part of a property tax relief
package that limits the amount of money districts are
allowed to spend and keep in surplus.
Great Meadows Regional School District
Superintendent Jason Bing said the cap penalizes districts
like Great Meadows, which has been working with little or no
surplus for the past five years. He said any surplus the
district has seen has gone back to help with property taxes.
This year, he said, the district is using the surplus to pay
for building upgrades, leaving little room for increases in
salaries or benefits.
"The way (the law) is written, it
punishes schools that have been good. It was intended for
large schools that had very large surpluses that were not
kicking back that money to tax levee," said Bing.
Before the law was passed a district's
surplus was allowed to be a minimum of 3 percent and up to 6
percent of the school budget.
Under the cap, the surplus is restricted
to 2 percent.
According to Yaple the law also puts caps
on yearly budget increases. He said district budgets are
allowed to grow according to rises in the cost of living or
at 2.5 percent.
Great Meadows Regional School district's
operating budget for 2005-06 is about $16 million, Bing
said.
Reporter Kat Main can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by
e-mail at kmain@express-times.com.
© 2006 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
|