The Shamong Board of Education approved the 2019-2020 budget at its latest meeting after seeing a significant loss in state aid.
The board also approved a 2 percent tax increase. The owner of a home assessed at the average value of $308,498 will see an annual increase of $95.86, or 2.17 percent.
The district will experience a loss of $163,531 in state funding, which is more than double the amount in cuts compared to the current year.
“We’re really maintaining, not adding, due to the state cuts,” said Laura Archer, business administrator and board secretary.
Many school districts across the state are facing the same problem due to Gov. Murphy’s signed state aid budget provisions. The announcement by the state happened last summer, and many 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 aid to some districts, including approximately $24 million over the next five years to the Lenape Regional High School District.
Although the district was forced to slash the budget to stay within the state aid cuts, the district managed to keep programs and personnel the same as the current year.
Appropriations for the budget total $14,846,179, which is a 0.63 percent decrease from the current budget. The general fund decreased 0.62 percent. Roughly half of the programs in the general fund will see a decrease, including special education tuition and staff training.
The district saw a decrease in every expenditures category, except debt service. In the revenues category, only two saw an increase for the next year. The local tax levy will increase 2 percent to $9,560,498, and the budget’s debt service increased 3.48 percent.
