The Medford Board of Education approved the 2019-2020 budget at its latest meeting, with a plan that has half a million dollars less in state aid compared to the current year.
Medford’s state funding continues to go down from recent years. In the budget for 2018-2019, the state slashed almost $300,000.
Now, the district will lose nearly $400,000 in state funding; a decrease of 7.74 percent from the current year.
Many school districts across the state are facing the same problem as Medford due to Gov. Murphy’s signed state aid budget provisions. The announcement by the state happened last summer, and some districts are now forced to figure out how those cuts will affect this year’s budget.
The provision signed last year enforced changes to the School Funding Reform Act of 2008. Those changes are proposing to spread the money throughout the state to balance the scale for “under-funded” districts. In turn, the state is slashing some districts’ aid, including approximately $24 million over the next five years to the Lenape Regional High School District.
Tax rates, on the other hand, are rising. Medford residents with an average assessed home valued at $326,500 will see an annual increase of $93.06.
The tax levy increased 2.28 percent, or almost $1 million from the current year.
The general fund balance is staying the same as the current year, at $2.8 million, which allows the school to maintain the existing academic programs.
Appropriations for the budget total $52.7 million, which is a 1.46 percent increase from the current budget.
The district is implementing $60,000 worth of new and updated technology, such as new iPads and upgrades within the infrastructure. Four new buses were added to the budget in compliance with the mandated 12-year bus replacement schedule, totaling $75,000 for the next school year.
