The Haddonfield Board of Education unanimously approved the district’s 2015–2016 school budget on April 30. According to the budget, the average Haddonfield homeowner, with a home assessed at $484,226, would pay an additional $144.03 per year in school taxes, or about $12 more a month.
The proposed budget for the general fund is $36.6 million, with many parts of the expenditures going well above 2 percent. However, the tax total levy for the 2015–2016 year will increase by 1.96 percent, which is slightly less than the 2 percent cap school districts are allowed to increase taxes by annually. The debt service fund is $1.93 million, which is included in the 1.96 percent tax levy.
The total local tax levy is $32.6 million for the general fund and $1.84 million for the debt service fund.
To help reduce the tax levy for residents, the district will be using $639,455 from the surplus for the general fund budget and $1,134 from the surplus for the debt service fund.
“Part of each year’s surplus is used to balance the following year’s budget in regard to our revenue. This is approximately $600,000 each year. The past couple of years we have had about $1 million in surplus. The remainder that is not rolled over has been put into capital reserve accounts to address the numerous capital needs projects of the district along with offsetting tax impacts,” Superintendent Richard Perry said.
The school is also using $1.44 million from capital reserve for district-wide envelope needs. These needs include patches on roofs, masonry and foundations.
“The $1,444,868 is money that the district has saved over the years in order to address much-needed capital project issues district wide. This is money that has been saved. No new money, by way of taxes, will be passed onto the taxpayers,” Perry said.
Health benefit costs are expected to increase about 11.3 percent from last year. State aid totals $1.28 million, which is no increase from last year.
Additions to the 2015–2016 school budget include a full-time HMHS computer science/math teacher and making a part-time HMHS American sign language teacher and a part-time HMHS art teacher full-time. These were added to meet the needs of students who asked for such programs to be added as well as to meet the needs of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) initiatives.
No cuts of teachers or programs were made.
“I am very pleased that we were able to create a budget with a tax impact under the 2 percent cap and at the same time be able to maintain all of our staff and programs. I am very excited, too, about our STEAM initiatives and about being able to add the computer science and full-time art- and engineering-related teaching position. In addition, when everything is going up over 2 percent in regard to insurance, energy, capital needs, salaries and other expenditures, to come in under the 2 percent is quite an accomplishment. I credit our business administrator, Mr. Oberg, and our Finance Committee members for an excellent job in this regard,” Perry said.
The next Board of Education meeting will be Thursday, May 14 at 7 p.m. in the HMHS library. At this meeting, a presentation will be given on drug- and alcohol-related programs at the middle school and high school to address drug and alcohol concerns within the schools.
