An Evesham resident with an average assessed home valued at $270,500 will see a $49.50 increase in K-8 school taxes.
The Evesham Township School District Board of Education used this week’s meeting to approve the final 2018–2019 school year budget.
The 2018–2019 budget totaled about $85 million, with $80.4 million going toward the budget’s general fund and $4.6 million going toward prior debt service obligations.
The budget features a 1.83-cent tax rate increase per every $100 of assessed property value, which will set the new total K-8 school tax rate at $1.1782
That figure equates to a $49.50 increase in K-8 school taxes for an Evesham resident with the average assessed home valued at $270,500, or a new average yearly total for K-8 school taxes of about $3,187.
However, as noted by district officials, the 1.83-cent tax rate increase is less than the 1.9-cent tax rate increase ($51.29 for the average assessed home) originally proposed in the district’s tentative budget in March.
For every 1-cent increase K-8 school taxes, district officials say the budget gains about an additional $1 million in revenue.
According to officials, the total general fund tax levy (the taxes the district has control of from year to year outside of debt service obligations) for the 2018–2019 budget is $59.35 million, equating to an increase of about $1.8 million or 3.2 percent from the general fund tax levy of the prior year’s budget.
Per state law, the district was allowed to increase the general fund tax levy by 4.12 percent through a 2 percent increase cap, banked cap funds from prior years and an adjustment for health-care costs
However, by increasing the general fund tax levy by 3.2 percent instead of the maximum 4.12 percent, the district was $528,290 below its allowed cap.
Officials also noted that while the district received an increase in state aid for the 2018–2019 budget of about $384,000 from the prior school year’s budget, those additional funds were being used for an increase to the district’s school resource officer program, building security enhancements and new technology enhancements.
According to ETSD Superintendent John Scavelli Jr., additional goals and priorities of the 2018–2019 school year budget include maintaining or enhancing all instruction (core subjects, related arts, specialized programs) sustaining initiatives, maintaining current class sizes, updating social studies resources and materials, enhancing the Project Lead the Way elective (a foundational STEM program for high school) and enhancing staff professional development.
According to Scavelli, the budget also upgrades technology hardware such as interactive whiteboards, iPads, Chromebooks, security cameras and a visitor management system, completes capital projects such as HVAC, flooring, cooling tower and building security alterations and continues school bus and maintenance vehicle/equipment replacements.
In passing the budget, members of the board also discussed expectations for future budgets, including comparing the ETSD’s average tax increases to surrounding towns with similar demographics and setting more concrete budget goals for district officials in planning for future years.
