District looks for voter approval of budget

District looks for voter approval of budget
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH — The Long Branch Public School District is hoping voters approve a proposed $86,299,056 budget at the polls on April 21.

The budget for the 2009-10 school year calls for a $31,570,923 tax levy, a number the state will not allow Long Branch to go lower on, according to Long Branch School District BusinessAdministrator Peter Genovese III.

"We could have easily raised the budget another one or two million," Genovese said last week. "We could have raised the tax levy from last year up to four percent without even a waiver, but we decided that at this economic time it would be better to keep it as low as we could."

The 2008-09 budget came in at $83,619,191, meaning the proposed budget represents an increase of about 3.1 percent.

That budget was approved by voters at the polls last year by a margin of just six votes and marked the first time in five years that Long Branch voters supported the spending plan.

The proposed 2009-10 budget would amount to an increase for each taxpayer of 0.08 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation. Last year's tax rate was 60.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation and this year's proposed rate is 61.7 cents per $100.

"For example, a house valued at $475,000 would pay an extra $38 per year," Genovese said.

The average Long Branch homeowner will pay about $2,900 in school taxes under the proposed budget.

State aid for 2009-10 for the district, which is an Abbott District, will remain the same as last year at around $40,700,000.

The budget reflects an increase in state aid for pre-K classes

"Last year we received roughly $7.7 million in aid for Pre-K," Genovese said. "With our enrollment this year we received $9.4 million in state aid for Pre-K services."

The $1.7 million increase in state aid for the preschool program accounts for all but $900,000 of the $2.6 million difference in the current and proposed budgets.

"The other $900,000 comes from normal increases in things like salaries and health benefits," Genovese said. "We tried hard to keep expenses down. We made some cuts in costs of transportation and building renovations."

Taxpayers had a chance to comment on the budget during the public hearing on April 1. After that, any necessary adjustments to the budget will be made and the vote is scheduled for April 21.

"The County Superintendent already approved the budget, so we got past that," Genovese said. "We would love the budget to pass. It would be a real vote of confidence for us."

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.