The Matawan Aberdeen Board of Education approved an approximately $68.1 million tentative budget for the 2013-14 academic year at a special action meeting March 4. 

The $68,154,682 total budget includes a $64,745,927 operating budget, an increase of about $4.9 million from 2012-13, and $2,438,305 in debt service, a decrease of about $35 thousand. The tentative budget calls for a $682,849 increase to the tax levy from the 2012-13 year for a total of $46,206,109 to be raised by taxes.

The budget is a tentative one and approval by the Board of Education only authorized School Business Administrator Patrick DeGeorge to submit it for review by the Executive Superintendent of Monmouth County.

DeGeorge walked the Board of Education and a small audience of residents through the tentative budget while also comparing it to the approved 2012-13 budget.

Making the Budget

The budget creation process takes about seven months and typically begins in September of each year, DeGeorge explained. Each of the sixteen departments encompassed by the budget met with their respective teams to create individual budgets and then came together with Superintendent David Healy, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Marc Natanagara and DeGeorge to work toward a consolidated budget.

The Board of Education previously adopted several goals concerning the budget, including the desire to increase the tax levy no more than 1.5 percent without reducing programs, to refine and expand present programs and initiatives, to establish a prioritized facility master plan improvement program, to continue technology upgrades, to implement a new teacher evaluation program and to continue to explore alternative sources of revenue.

Budget Breakdown 

In general, DeGeorge explained, any school budget has three major components. The first is the operating budget, which funds the day-to-day costs of running a school district. The second is grants and entitlements, which includes items like No Child Left Behind. The third is debt service, which encompasses the amount of money in bonds and other loans that the district has borrowed over the years. 

The total budget can also be broken down into percentages. Of the total budget, 52.6 percent accounts for salaries, 16.9 percent accounts for benefits, 4.6 percent accounts for tuition, 4.8 percent accounts for transportation and 21.2 percent accounts for everything else in the district.

The budgeted per student costs, for a projected enrollment of 3,799.5, is expected to be $13,430, according to DeGeorge. That is $487 under the state average for the 2012-13 academic year. The administrative per student costs are expected to be $1,385, which is $463 under the regional limit.

DeGeorge provided the chart below to illustrate the tentative 2013-14 operating budget as compared to the 2012-13 approved operating budget. 

DeGeorge noted that the majority of increases and decreases in the different sections were a result of shuffling budget items into the correct categories. 

Two of the largest actual increases, however, are anticipated in the areas of administration and capital outlay.

Administrative costs increased, DeGeorge explained, with the addition of a vice principal at Lloyd Road School and three district-wide administrators including Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Marc Natanagara, Director of K-12 Humanities Jessie Zitarosa and Director of K-12 Instruction and Evaluation John Bombardier.

Capital outlay increased by 436.9 percent because the Board of Education decided to use the remainder of the state aid they were awarded in 2011 to pursue several projects, including demolishing the old Cliffwood Elementary School and replacing a section of the roof at Matawan Regional High School, according to DeGeorge.

Tentative Budget's Taxpayer Impact 

The tentative budget calls for a $682,849 increase -- or a 1.5 percent increase -- to the tax levy from the 2012-13 year for a total of $46,206,109 to be raised by taxes.

"To be fiscally responsible and to minimize taxes the board stuck to its goal and achieved its goal of not increasing the tax levy more than 1.5 percent," DeGeorge said, noting that the district is permitted to raise the tax levy by 2 percent.

The tax rate is determined for each municipality with a formula that considers their respective assessed valuation of the entire municipality in conjunction with the total school taxes. According to DeGeorge, the total assessed valuation of each municipality decreased from 2012. When the assessed valuation of a municipality decreases, taxes increase as there is less wealth to spread around. 

Under the tentative budget, the school tax rate in Aberdeen would increase $0.036 to $1.598 per $100 of a property's assessed valuation. For example, a property assessed at $300,000 would be responsible for $4,794 in school taxes for the year. This would be an increase of $108 a year from the 2012-13 approved budget or an increase of $9 a month.

The school tax rate in Matawan would increase $0.009 to $1.472 per $100 of a property's assessed valuation. For example, a property assessed at $300,000 would be responsible for $4,416 in school taxes for the year. This would be an increase of $27 for the year from the 2012-13 approved budget or an increase of $2.25 a month. 

Revenue Sources

In addition to taxes, state and federal aid and grants serve as revenue to help support the district's budgetary needs. 

According to DeGeorge, the district anticipates $12,504,708 in aid from the state, $5,699,980 in fund balance and $335,130 from other miscellaneous sources.

He noted that while state aid technically increased $133,036 from the previous academic year, the Department of Education also increased the amount they expect the district to contribute to help finance the School Development Authority's initiatives by $51,000.

Aside from the revenue that comes from state and federal aid, grants and taxpayers, the district plans to continue their search for appropriate alternative sources of revenue, DeGeorge explained. 

"It's not as easy as it sounds because there aren't millions of dollars to be made in the things that we are exploring," he said. 

The district, he noted, is continuing to explore the idea of generating revenue through advertising on school property as well as more efficient use of the rental of existing school facilities.

Sequestration

DeGeorge noted that the district is keeping an eye on federal grants and entitlements, as federal funding for education in New Jersey is slated to be slashed by nearly $30 million should Congress fail to halt $85 billion in "sequestration" spending cuts. 

DeGeorge cautioned residents that the national issue could have quite the local impact. 

"We've all heard the term in the news lately, "Sequestration." That's a big term and sometimes we may think that may not impact our district, but if the government cannot come to terms," he said, "It's my opinion that this could severely impact the district's budget for grants and entitlements."

What's Next?

Since the March 4 meeting, the Executive Superintendent of Monmouth County has reviewed and approved the budget without any changes, according to DeGeorge. A more detailed version of the budget and a user friendly budget available on the district website for residents to review by March 17. 

The Board of Education will hold a public hearing on March 21 at 7 p.m. at the administrative offices on Crest Way in Aberdeen. People will have the opportunity to ask questions and make comments on the proposed budget before the board votes to approve or deny the budget. 

The public no longer has the opportunity to vote on the budget unless the increase to the tax levy exceeds 2 percent.