Berlin residents can expect a $59 tax increase
At its latest meeting, the Eastern Regional Board of Education approved its tentative 2019–2020 budget, which will be submitted to the executive county superintendent of schools for approval.
The tentative budget stands at $38,888,682, which includes $38,380,182 of general funds, $508,500 of special revenue funds and no debt service funds. The local tax levy is $26,352,672. Last year, the total budget was $40,599,494.
According to Business Administrator and Board Secretary Diana Schiraldi, the annual tax increase for the average assessed home in Berlin would be $59, and Voorhees homes would see an increase of $16. Gibbsboro homes will receive a decrease in the tax rate due to a reassessment of all properties in the borough. Individual homeowners may see a tax increase or decrease as a result of this reassessment.
A public hearing regarding the budget is scheduled for May 1 at 7 p.m.
The tax levy increase included in the budget represents a 3.1 percent increase over the prior year. The budget includes the use of $288,748 in banked cap, which is requested to partially offset a reduction in state aid.
The district is receiving $9,099,650 in state aid for the 2019–2020 school budget. This is a decrease of $346,658 over the original budgeted amount in the 2018–19 school year. State aid to the district has decreased due to declining enrollment.
The budget also encompasses the costs of capital outlay projects, which were also passed through resolutions at the meeting. Next year’s capital projects include phase two of the network infrastructure upgrade and safety renovations to the athletic field grandstands.
In addition to capital projects in the budget, the district has awarded a contract for a partial roof renovation to be completed over the summer.
Also at the meeting,:
· Schiraldi stated Eastern Regional has applied for a free energy audit. The most recent energy audit was over a decade ago, and the board hopes to be able to locate grant money to help replace older equipment.
· Superintendent Harold Melleby Jr. said there have not been any HIB cases reported since the last board meeting.
· Lindsay Kleeman was honored as the Scholar of the Month for March.
· Director of Curriculum Robert Cloutier presented the School Performance Report to the board, relating to school attendance, test scores and more from the previous school year. The entire report will be available on Eastern’s website for parents and students to view.
· During his presentation, Cloutier reminded the board that current juniors will not have to take ELA and math standardized testing this April, despite letters having been recently sent to parents saying that they will. According to Cloutier, the state said districts will be allowed to decide if they want grade 11 students to opt out of the testing or not within the same time frame that Eastern sent out the letters.
· Dennis Deichert was sworn in as a member of the board to represent Gibbsboro after being voted in at February’s meeting. The seat became available after the resignation of Craig Speechley due to him leaving the district for personal reasons.
Eastern Regional’s next BOE meeting will be Wednesday, April 17 at 7 p.m., with an early reception beginning at 7 p.m. to honor individual state track champions.
