School Budgets on the Ballot April 27

Residents in will have the opportunity on April 27 to cast a vote on their local school budgets. On the ballot for each district are questions for the respective elementary school budgets as well as the tax levy to be raised in support of the .

All three budgets stay well within the newly mandated 2 percent property tax cap and benefitted from unanticipated state aid. The proposed budgets for all three school systems also share a decrease in general funds for the 2011-2012 school year.

Patch has covered all three proposed school budgets in depth but provides an overview here for voters before they head out to the polls on Wednesday.

Eatontown School District: Tax Levy Remains Flat

The Eatontown Board of Education is asking tax payers to support a proposed $18 million budget that is down 3.6 percent from last year. Of that general fund, $13 million is to be raised through property taxes, which will increase the tax bill for the owner of the average assessed home in Eatontown by $2.58 for the upcoming year.

In 2010-2011, the owner of an averaged assessed home in the borough of $310,000 paid $1,840 in taxes to support the school budget. The 1 percent increase in state aid was used to maintain programs and staff for the upcoming year and offset taxes.

Tinton Falls: State Aid Helped to Minimize Cuts

The unanticipated increase in state aid allowed the district to reinstate programs and staff that had been cut when the budget was first introuced in early March. The board of education will present to the community a $23.26 million budget for approval on Wednesday with its $17.68 million tax levy staying within the 2 percent cap.

The owner of the average assessed home in Tinton Falls of $321,226 will pay an additional $36.11 in taxes next year to support the general fund. In Shrewsbury Township, taxes will decrease $97.83 for the owner of the average home of $150,000.

Monmouth Regional High School: "Doing Something With Nothing"

The $24 million operating budget will be supported by a property tax levy of $18.75 million divided among the school's three sending districts.

Eatontown residents will foot about 44 percent of the tax bill, with the owner of the average assessed home paying about $1,219.39, which is a $16.74 decrease (or $1.39 per month).

In Tinton Falls, the average homeowner will pay $1,140.79 annually, which makes up about 54 percent of the total tax levy and is an increase of $70 over last year's tax bill.

Shrewsbury Township residents will pay $14 more in 201-2012 for the average assessed home of $204,629 or a total of $638.37.

According to Board of Education President Anthony Schaible (Tinton Falls), the school's superintendent and business administrator deserved praise in developing the proposed budget and for "doing something with nothing."

Polls will be open from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. in all three sending districts on Wednesday, April 27. Check in our image gallery to the right of this article for a full listing of polling places in Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Shrewsbury Township.