Note: The boldface/italicized text is additional information beyond what was published in the Westfield Leader 3/24/2005.

 

The final exam for School Board members is the yearly vote on the budget. After several months of intense preparation, cram sessions with the District’s administrators, and tax rate calculations that make Everyday Math look easy, the Board will receive their grade on April 19th.  To help you understand the process I’ve got the answers to some frequently asked questions below.

 

Does anyone really understand the School Budget as it appears in the Leader’s “ Public Notice” section?

It’s rumored that Bob Berman, the District’s Business Administrator, knows it by heart. However, the Board of Education members typically use a “Program Budget”, which breaks down the costs into categories much easier to understand. You’ll be seeing that in presentations and on Channel 36.

 

The program budget may be on the budget area of the westfieldnj.com web site – please visit

http://westfieldnj.com/schoolbudget/

 

 

How much will my taxes increase?

Well, that depends on your assessment – for the average Westfield home assessed at $180,000, the proposed increase will be $324.

 

If you’re wondering how an “18 cents” increase that is mentioned in a lot of budget-talk, it refers to the increase in the tax rate applied to your house, i.e. $.18 per $100 of assessed value; so if you multiply .0018 (.18/100)  by 180,000 you get $324. The budget can only increase in event “cent” amounts and each cent raises approximately  $184,000 to fund the schools (tax levy budget of 68,130,181/rate of  369 cents).

 

Can’t Board save some money somewhere?

Yes, this year the Board has reduced spending by consolidating the technology department, by negotiating a “managed care” health plan option for most of teachers, and by contracting for lower utility costs, to name a few areas. The Board is also planning to teach more Special Education classes within the district, reducing out of district costs that can reach $100,000 per child.

 

Special education is almost always the wildcard of the budget; you do not know how many children will be requiring special services, nor does the district know exactly what the tuition rates will be. The state sets those rates at the end of the school year, rather than the beginning. The state can reimburse districts for amounts spent per-child about $40,000, but Westfield typically gets less than one-third of what it is eligible for.

 

Isn’t the State helping out with some funds?

Yes, to the tune of about 10% of Westfield’s budget, compared to 50% on average for other districts statewide.  The State also regulates how Westfield and other school districts can budget for education. Districts that are primarily state-funded on average spend more per child than Westfield does.

 

The state has passed a variety of laws that attempt to restrict how a school district can spend money, while doing little to fund districts unless required to by law (the mainly urban “Abbott” districts) . The latest law is S1701, passed last year as an attempt to do tax relief for voters by limiting the amount in each districts “rainy-day” fund (fund balance) by returning  an excess amount to the taxpayers.

 

 The state figures that each district should only keep 2% as a contingency; in Westfield’s case, replacing one boiler and adding 10 children who need advanced special education services would use up over half of that amount. The real net result is that districts will be spending the overage list year and next, creating an artificially lower tax increase. Watch for a larger tax increase for the 2006-2007 school year in most districts across the state. For more info on the bill, see http://www.njsba.org/1701/index.htm

 

 

What happens if the budget is not passed?

Then the town council gets to decide what amount or line items are cut or reduced from budget.  The cuts can be made without considering the Board of Education’s priorities or strategic plan.  The risk of a budget not passing is approaching a reality because even though more people move into town for our great schools, fewer are turning out to vote for the budget that supports the schools, while the number voting against the budget stays fairly constant.

 

When the town council gets the budget, they specify amounts to be cut from any line items they choose, resulting in a total amount to be cut. The Board of Education then can determine what is actually cut, which does not have to match with what the Town Council decides.

 

Do you have any ideas?

Glad you asked! If elected, I, Gary McCready, would use my years of experience personally managing millions in technology budgets to help craft a budget that will produce the best educational value for Westfield’s tax dollars. I would also invite community members to budget discussions that match their interests to increase support for the budget. Lastly, I would also like to see price tags applied to the goals of the District’s strategic plan for better long range planning. Of course, visit my web site at www.mccready.com for more detail.