This year’s budget includes more money for the district’s School Resource Officer program and more money in state aid.
With its March meeting out of the way, the Evesham Township School District Board of Education has passed its tentative 2018–2019 school year budget.
Although board approval of its final budget isn’t until May, and aspects of the budget could still change, the budget provides a detailed outline of the general expenditures and revenues the district expects for the year to come.
Total appropriations for the tentative budget are set at $77.5 million, with a 1.9-cent tax rate increase per every $100 of a resident’s assessed property value.
That tax rate increase equates to a $51.31 increase in the K-8 school taxes for Evesham residents with average assessed homes valued at $270,500.
The tentative 2018–2019 school year budget does not have planned cuts to programs or staff, and class sizes will be maintained at their current levels.
The tax increase is nearly identical to the $51.29 tax increase district officials announced at a preliminary budget information session in February.
However, several aspects of the budget’s expenditures and revenues have changed in the weeks since that meeting.
Overall, apporations in the budget have increased about $725,000, while general revenues have increased about $714,000.
The biggest increase in budget expenditures is a $250,000 increase to the district’s School Resource Officer Program, which brings the program’s total yearly cost to $500,000.
With an increase in funding, the program will increase the Evesham Township Police Department’s ability to station officers at schools in the district.
Some of the other major increases include $210,000 to add security-related school building modifications, a $166,000 increase in the district’s health benefits cost after an assessment from the South Jersey Health Insurance Fund and a $99,000 increase for technology upgrades.
“The safety of our students is a top priority along with providing an excellent education. We are committed to providing additional funding to expand our SRO program with the township,” Superintendent John Scavelli Jr. said. “We are also in the early planning stages of making some structural modifications to our school buildings in order to enhance our security procedures.”
Offsetting much of those increases, the district saw a $225,500 increase in expected full-day kindergarten tuition revenues, a $16,500 increase in expected preschool integrated tuition revenues, and a $35,000 increase from the Lenape Regional High School District for renting part of a district building.
Also helping offset new expenditures was a larger increase than expected in state aid figures by about $384,000.
“Statewide, for the 2018–19 school year, 94 percent of school districts will receive more state aid than their current allotment,” Scavelli said. “For ETSD, that totals approximately $384,000 in additional money. Obviously, we were very pleased to receive the additional funding commitment from the state of New Jersey. Gov. Murphy has indicated his goal is to phase-in full funding for all school districts over a four-year period.“
In addition to revenue added since the district’s preliminary budget information session in February, the budget also still includes about $2.8 million in miscellaneous revenue that stems from sources other than state aid or the tax levy.
Officials say such revenue comes from sources such as tution programs or the rental of Evans school.
While the budget features $2.8 million in miscellaneous revenue for the 2018–2019 school year, that figure was only about $890,000 in 2010–2011 school year.
To view a presentation on the tentative budget delivered by Scavelli at the board’s March meeting, visit the district’s website at www.evesham.k12.nj.us and view the agenda.
Should previous timelines announced by the district hold true, officials expect the board to approve its final budget at a meeting on May 3.
Based on past budget history, Scavelli said he was hopeful the budget’s overall tax levy impact would be less than what has been announced by the time the board is ready to adopt its final budget.
In past years, the district has continued to find budget savings between the passage of its tentative budget and the adoption of its final budget.
