Proposed Eatontown School Budget Has Slight Tax Increase

Eatontown's introduced 2013-14 school budget shows that borough taxpayers will have a slight increase in their tax bills.

Eatontown School District Superintendent Scott McCue said the school's total general fund has increased 1.39 percent to $18,413,509 and the proposed amount to be raised by taxes is $13,364,766.

"It has increased 1.19 percent" McCue said in an email to Patch. "The district has the ability to raise taxes to 2 percent."

The proposed tax rate is 0.724, a 0.034 increase over this year's tax rate. 

"It should be noted that this rate reflects a loss of over $55 million in ratables or valuation," McCue said. "In simple terms, on the average home in Eatontown valued at $310,000, the school taxes would increase by $8.73 per month or $104.73 per year."

McCue said there are no proposed cuts in school services, programs, or staffing. There are no layoffs or staff reductions proposed.

"The district can maintain existing educational programs, services, and staffing," McCue said. "In addition, this budget supports enhancements to curriculum materials aligned with the CCSS (Common Core State Standards) in English, language arts and mathematics, technology program upgrades including more technology devices for students, and programs to implement the new teacher and principal evaluation systems."

He said the school is anticipating as much as a 20 percent cut in federal aid for programs such as No Child Left Behind.

"The figures are released later in the year," he said. "We have taken these numbers into account."

McCue added that the district has been advised to budget for a possible 20 percent increase in health benefit costs.

McCue said the budget will be presented to the board of education on March 25.