The 2011-2012 School Budget: Smaller Than Last Year, and at No Cost to Class Sizes

Students, parents and teachers in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District can likely breathe a sigh of relief as they look toward the 2011-2012 school year. At the monthly agenda meeting Thursday night, Business Administrator Anthony Del Sordi announced that next year’s projected school budget will remain within a state-mandated 2-percent property tax cap. Moreover, although it is $276,917 lower than the current 2010-2011 budget, Del Sordi stated that the district likely will not experience an increase in class sizes or the elimination of any programs or staff. 

“At this exact moment, we do not see the need to make cuts,” Del Sordi said in a telephone interview Friday. “We feel that the budget we prepared will be within the cap established under the new regulations. Although there are major increases and new programs – things of that nature – we feel that the budget we’re preparing will not have to be trimmed at this point. We started off the process knowing we had to fit within the 2-percent cap. We were fortunate in that our salary settlements were lower than 2 percent…. Coupled with unexpected retirements that took place last year, we went line item by line item and reduced items that we felt possibly have been overstated.” 

The total proposed budget for 2011-2012 is $79,881,131, down from the $81,902,380 that was appropriated for 2010-2011. Salaries constitute the bulk of the expenditures, constituting about $43.6 million, or roughly 54.6 percent of total costs. Benefits take-up the second-largest chunk at about $14.9 million, or 18.7 percent of the budget. 

Significantly, it is a spending plan that, if approved by voters in April, will reduce the amount of money sought through local sources and property taxes for the second consecutive year. Moreover, class sizes will remain unaffected.

“We were pleased with just about everything,” board member Don Parisi said during the meeting Thursday. “The first view of this budget reveals that, thanks to an enormous effort on the part of this school district for many years, we’ve moved slowly and carefully through fiscal turbulent waters, unlike other districts that go up and down. We have weathered past years and this coming year, even in the face of 2-percent cap. I give credit to the financial acumen of this district. ”

Del Sordi, during his presentation Thursday, did not specifically state which areas of the budget will experience cuts as a result of the $276,917 reduction. He said that his office and the Board of Education will make those determinations after Gov. Chris Christie delivers his budget message and the state's Department of Education reveals its aid figures for 2011-2012, which are expected to be announced this week. Del Sordi noted that the aid Scotch Plains-Fanwood receives – which was sharply reduced before the 2010-2011 school year – could be entirely eliminated. 

If that occurs, he said, the district will have to make deeper cuts. He added that these developments will be factored into the projected budget and will be presented during the board’s regular monthly meeting Thursday night, Feb. 24. In addition, whereas last Thursday’s meeting focused on expenditures, this week’s upcoming meeting will discuss sources of revenue. 

“We’ll be announcing after we see state aid figures how much comes from the state, how much comes from taxpayers, any federal grants,” Board of Education president Trip Whitehouse said in a telephone interview. He added that the board will discuss in detail which new programs will be introduced to the curriculum – such as Mandarin Chinese – and which will be removed. 

Despite the budget reduction, it is likely that only residents of Fanwood, and not Scotch Plains, will see a decrease in their property taxes. For years, Fanwood residents paid proportionally higher school taxes than Scotch Plains. This year, however, the state’s Department of Community Affairs – which uses student enrollment, population and other factors to calculate how different municipalities, such as Scotch Plains and Fanwood, pay for a consolidated school district – readjusted the breakdown for school taxes. In essence, Scotch Plains residents will support more of the budget, while Fanwood residents will support less.

“It’s frustrating to us because, as a consolidated school district, if we had consolidated municipalities and we spent less than we did the year before, everyone would get a property tax decrease,” Parisi said. “The way the budget is set up is that even though we’re spending less money, Scotch Plains residents will have to pay more in property tax. It’s an anomaly, but that’s unfortunately the reality.”

He added that the exact decrease and increase have yet to be determined.