Warren
Hills officials cut budget
Wednesday, May 18, 2005 • By
ANDREA EILENBERGER • The
Express-Times
Warren Hills Regional School District
officials and municipal officials from its four sending
districts have agreed on $102,011 in cuts to the recently
defeated school budget.
The cuts, which total about half a cent
on the tax rate, pare down costs in the district's food
service, custodial, and supplies accounts without affecting
academic programs.
"We had frozen everyone's budget levels
at the expenditure level they had for 2002-03, so what we
ended up with was a tight budget to begin with,"
Superintendent Peter Merluzzi said. "When we had to go back
and take a look at it, we had to go for the obvious things
but stayed away from educational programs."
Under the new plan, residents in
Mansfield, Franklin and Washington townships as well as
Washington Borough can expect to pay a total of $16,695,795
in taxes to the district.
Franklin's tax rate will be 65.4 cents
per $100 of assessed value. A resident with a home assessed
at the township average of $303,792 can expect to pay $1,986
in regional school taxes next year.
Mansfield's tax rate will be 79.5 cents
per $100 of assessed value. A resident with a home assessed
at the township average of $238,737 can expect to pay $1,897
in regional school taxes next year.
Washington Borough's tax rate will be
99.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. A resident with a
home assessed at the borough average of $141,335 can expect
to pay $1,406 in regional school taxes next year.
Washington Township's tax rate will be
$83.4 cents per $100 of assessed value. A resident with a
home assessed at the township average of $232,450 can expect
to pay $1,938 in regional school taxes next year.
Officials cut $5,000 from its
administration supplies account, and another $1,000 from the
library supplies account. Another $5,000 was cut from the
board's professional services account.
Board President James Momary said the
yearly food services account was reduced by about
$30,000.
"Our food service program, unlike many
other schools' food service programs, are profitable,"
Momary said. "We make a bit of money from that and use it to
buy kitchen equipment as necessary. This year, instead of
doing that we will use the money to relieve
taxes."
Another $30,000 will be reduced from
custodial salaries, which could come from overtime or
reducing the number of scheduled work hours, said Business
Administrator Maureen Joyce. She also said $6,000 was cut
from the summer work account, which cuts down on the pay for
work done by teachers or supervisors after school ends in
June.
School officials found out about one
student who moved out the district which means an additional
$14,000 in revenue for student tuition, Merluzzi
said.
Momary said voters might have confused
the referendum increases with the spending plan
increase.
"I think people saw a jump in the tax
rate, but didn't realize that a lot of it was due to the
already agreed upon referendum passed (last year)," Momary
said.
In December, voters approved the $36.8
million plan to expand and renovate Warren Hills Regional
high and middle schools, which accounts for about $1.5
million of the total tax levy.
Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at
908-475-8044 or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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