By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Cherry Hill Sun
Last year, the Cherry Hill Board of Education approved a budget for the 2009–10 school year that included no increase in the tax levy for Cherry Hill residents. This year, because of a large deficit between projected revenues and expenditures, a zero percent tax levy increase will be very difficult to achieve, according to board members.
At the conclusion of a recent meeting, Board President Lisa Conn asked administrators to craft budgetary plans for the 2010–11 school year that include an increase of 1 to 4 percent in the local tax levy. Because of the extreme deficit, Conn said a zero percent tax levy might not be possible.
Depending on the tax levy, a deficit of as much as $16 million between projected revenues and expenditures is estimated for early drafts of the 2010–11 budget.
Business Administrator Jim Devereaux presented “no good news” on the projected revenue front for the 2010–11 school year budget.
Estimated revenues for the 2010–2011 school year at a zero percent tax levy increase would be about $166.8 million, about $16 million less than the projected $183 million in expenditures. The district is not budgeting any increase in state aid for the 2010–2011 year, Devereaux said, because of the change in administration at the state level.
Last year’s budget included $1.4 million in state aid.
It will truly be a difficult budget year for all involved, Devereaux said. Former Gov. Corzine proposed that school districts may have to use portions of their excess fund balances to offset mid-year cuts in state aid. The district has $3.5 million budgeted in excess fund balance for 2010–11, which the district has earmarked for “taxpayer relief.” If Corzine’s plan goes through, that number would be reduced, widening the deficit even more.
“We are much farther ahead of where we were at this point in time last year,” Devereaux said, the one silver lining to the figures for 2010–11.
If the board went to cap and authorized a 4 percent raise in the overall tax levy, Devereaux said the deficit would shrink to about $10.7 million.
The $183 million in expenditures is just a first look at the budget, Devereaux said. Each school in the district submitted their proposed budgets for the 2010–2011 school year, he said, and administrators will now have to go through the hard work of paring the budget down and closing the deficit.
Board Member Kathy Judge said the district had to release more than 63 full-time employees last year, which equated to about $3.8 million. The $16 million deficit that comes along with a zero percent tax levy increase “makes me nervous,” she said.
Board Member Steve Robbins stressed to his fellow members and members of the audience that the $183 million is just a first look and would likely be pared down as administrators go through their budgets again.
“Don’t fixate on the $183 million, it’s a first cut. We’ll give this to the administrators and get to work,” he said.
Superintendent Dave Campbell said the administration would again go through their budgets, but he warned that there was very little “low-hanging fruit” that could be cut to close the deficit. A $16 million deficit might be too much to overcome, he said.
“It’s about balancing quality and cost consciousness,” he said.
The next special budget meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Malberg building. The third and final meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 16.
