Eatontown, Monmouth Regional School Tax Levies See Increases

Administrators from the Eatontown School District and Monmouth Regional High School presented their approved budgets for the 2012-13 school year on Wednesday night.

The Eatontown Council invited officials from both districts to present their budgets during Wednesday night's workshop meeting.

Both budgets were approved last month, and because both of the schools' tax levies are below the 2 percent cap, the public will no longer be required to vote on them. Governor Chris Christie recently passed a law that allows school districts to do so.

Eatontown residents will see an increase in taxes from the Eatontown School district and a reduction in taxes from Monmouth Regional.

The owner of a home valued at the borough average of $310,000 in Eatontown will pay an additional $4.45 per month (or $53.44 for the year) for the Eatontown School District tax levy. The owner of the same home will see a $5 per month (or $60 for the year) reduction in taxes because of the Monmouth Regional tax levy.

Because Monmouth Regional has three sending districts, each town must pay its share of the tax levy. Tinton Falls residents will see a $10.77 per month ($129.19 per year) increase and Shrewsbury Township residents will see a $7.53 ($90.37 per year) increase in taxes. Eatontown is the only town that had a reduction.

Monmouth Regional Business Administrator Maria Parry said the percent each town pays for the total tax levy is calculated by multiplying the equalized valuation of each municipality by the regional enrollment of the school as of Oct. 14.

Both schools' total budgets are increasing for the 2012-13 school year. The Eatontown School District's total budget is $18,160,852 and Monmouth Regional's total budget is $24,742,095.

The Eatontown School District saw a state aid increase of $56,308, while Monmouth Regional's state aid decreased by $378,845. Parra said the main reason for the decrease in state aid for Monmouth Regional is a drop in enrollement. She said the school is expecting to lose more state aid for the 2013-14 school year.

Both schools will still have elections for new (or returning) board members in November and Monmouth Regional is planning on having a similar referendum question to the one that was .