Hackettstown officials propose $91,000 cut to defeated school budget, superintendent says

HACKETTSTOWN | The town's average school tax hike is expected to drop by $26 under school budget cuts proposed by municipal officials, school officials said Tuesday.

About three weeks after Hackettstown voters narrowly rejected the proposed $30 million spending plan, town council voted unanimously Monday to reduce the budget by $91,914, Hackettstown School District Superintendent Robert Gratz said.

That reduction means a 1.5-cent cut in the proposed tax rate increase of 6.7 cents, district Business Administrator Michael Simonetta said. The new tax rate would be $2.363 for every $100 of assessed value, instead of the original proposal of $2.378.

The owner of a home assessed at the town average of $175,000 would see a 2.3 percent tax increase of $91, instead of the 2.9 percent $117 increase under the original budget proposal.

The originally proposed budget failed in the April 21 election by eight votes, marking the district's first defeated budget in 10 years.

"I'm disappointed that our budget failed," Gratz said. "We'll make adjustments and we'll move forward. Certainly it's a loss of momentum, and we'll do everything we can to get that momentum back."

Town council recommended delaying some paving projects for later budgets as well as eliminating a proposed part-time athletic trainer, Simonetta said. The school board has yet to identify where the cuts will be made, Gratz said.

The board is scheduled to vote on the municipality's proposed dollar-amount cut at 7 tonight in the high school media center, officials said.

Mayor Michael Lavery said he was satisfied with the agreement reached by school and municipal representatives. Lavery echoed Gratz's previous comments that the outcome at the polls was not a reflection of the school district but of the overall economic climate and taxes.

"When the voters reject the budget, I think the elected officials have an obligation to make some cuts," Lavery said. "I'm pleased we were able to come to a compromise that both sides can live with."