New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie withholding $475 million in school aid to fill budget gap

Friday, February 12, 2010
By BILL WICHERT
The Express-Times

A day after a snowstorm hammered New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie announced a different kind of emergency -- one that holds financial implications for school districts in Warren County and across the state.

Declaring a state of financial crisis, Christie outlined several cost-cutting measures Thursday before a joint session of the Legislature, including freezing about $475 million in state aid for 564 school districts.

Christie expects districts to dip into their surplus accounts to cover for the loss of state dollars, and more than 100 districts will lose all state aid for the remainder of the school year.

Some administrators said the state was penalizing districts who have demonstrated sound fiscal practices and put money aside for emergency needs.

Twenty-three school districts in Warren County stand to lose nearly $6.3 million total in withheld state aid, according to figures provided by state officials. The hardest hit in the county is the Warren Hills Regional School District at roughly $1.7 million.

"It's been a long time since we got good news from the state of New Jersey," said Bob Magnuson, chief school administrator at Oxford Central School.

2010-11 looking grim, too

The announcement comes while local school officials are already anticipating a reduction in state aid for the 2010-11 school year.

Christie said his proposal would not strip away funding for classroom instruction, textbooks or staffing. No district will lose more money than it has in reserve, the governor said.

"Not one dollar of new property taxes will be needed," Christie said. "We have not reduced school aid with an ax; we have done it with a scalpel and with great care."

Christie's aid freeze could spell the need for property tax increases in the coming school year, according to Tim Frederiks, superintendent of the Allamuchy Township and Great Meadows Regional school districts.

With an insufficient surplus to offset property tax increases, school officials would need to go back to the taxpayers to make up the difference, Frederiks said.

"It's going to hurt everybody," Frederiks said. "Every district is going to face a challenge, that's for sure."

Warren Hills Regional Superintendent Peter Merluzzi could not be reached for comment Thursday because the school district was closed.

Hackettstown School District is slated to lose the second-largest amount of state aid among Warren County districts at $976,145.

Hackettstown Superintendent Robert Gratz said school officials knew something was going to be coming down the pike, based on statements similar to Christie's from former Gov. Jon Corzine.

"We all knew this was a possibility," Gratz said. "We just didn't know who or when or how much."

P'burg loss the smallest

At $7,332 in withheld state aid, Phillipsburg is losing the smallest amount of money in the county.

Before the specific cuts were released, Phillipsburg Assistant Superintendent George Chando said the impact on Phillipsburg should be minimal, because the school district maintains a small surplus.

State aid figures for the 2010-11 school year should be available after Christie's budget address March 16. Warren County school officials have been developing potential spending plans in anticipation of aid cuts.

The Belvidere School District is bracing for a "worst case" cut of $500,000, which could mean program and staffing reductions, Superintendent Dirk Swaneveld said.

"We just hope that scenario doesn't take place, but we need to prepare for it," Swaneveld said. "There's not a lot of fat here in Warren County. We'll do the best we can with it, and hopefully it will turn out well."