Residents will pay about $92 less in school taxes for an average assessed home
The Burlington Township Board of Education’s preliminary budget for next school year calls for a 2 percent tax increase, but homeowners will likely be paying less in school taxes.
That’s because of a $91 million jump in taxable property — the result of a recent township-wide reevaluation — and a slight decrease in the averaged assessed home.
Residents with an average assessed home of $234,226 will pay $92.77 less in school taxes under the plan, according to documents provided by the district. The total general fund budget is $63.5 million, which represents an increase of about $1.6 million compared to the current year’s budget.
The Board of Education approved the preliminary budget at a meeting on March 19, and it has been submitted to the Burlington County Superintendent of Schools Office for approval.
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, in the cafeteria at Burlington Township High School, located at 710 Jacksonville Road.
Gov. Murphy’s proposed budget includes a more than $9 million increase in state aid for Burlington County schools. Superintendent Mary Ann Bell said the Burlington County School District is slated to receive a $953,000 increase, which is the largest among districts in the county.
“We were very pleased to see that they’ve acknowledged that we’ve been underfunded for so long,” Bell said.
Murphy’s budget needs to be adopted by the state legislature, and news reports out of Trenton suggest there may be some pushback against his plan. Bell said any changes to projected state aid would be disruptive to the district.
“We as school districts are supposed to go forward with this,” she said. “If they come back with an adjustment later, it certainly would be difficult, especially after we formalize our budget at the public hearing.”
The Board of Education’s preliminary budget would double the number of school resource officers in the district, from two to four. Bell said the township and district would split the cost of the additional officers.
“We will have four SROs by the end of next school year, which we are very happy about,” she added. “We have very large buildings, and we truly believe it’s a need.”
The additional officers will cost the district $84,000, according to budget documents.
Bell said the increase in security was not inspired by the recent school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Officials have been discussing the addition since October, she said.
The preliminary budget would also accommodate a new behavioral specialist and an academic achievement teacher. Bell said another focus of the plan was increasing opportunities for extracurricular activities.
“We did restore some things that were cut in 2010 that we hadn’t been able to get back at this point,” she said.
“Not every kid comes to school just for the academics. Sometimes, they come for the athletics. Sometimes, they come for the clubs,” Bell added. “And that matters.”
