L.B. school budget fails by nine votes

L.B. school budget fails by nine votes
Spending plan passes in all but two Elberon districts
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH — The Long Branch School District budget for 2009-10 was defeated on April 21 by a margin of just nine votes, 402-393, with taxpayers in most districts of the city voting to approve the spending plan.

The $86.2 million spending plan, which called for a tax levy of $31.5 million, was defeated by single-digit votes a year after virtually the same budget total passed by a margin of just six votes.

The proposed budget would have increased the tax rate by 0.08 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 61.7 cents per $100.

The owner of the average assessed home would 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 $40.7 million.

Long Branch School District Superintendent Joseph Ferraina said the district did everything possible to keep taxes down.

"We made a conscious effort to keep taxes to the minimum," he said. "We really thought about the economic situation. We made no increase this year, and we are seriously looking to cut costs next year."

According to Ferraina, as an Abbott district, the proposed tax levy was mandated by the state, and the district could not go lower.

"Every budget has a minimum tax levy," Ferraina said. "Ours is the same as last year."

According to Ferraina, just because the tax levy failed to gain the support of voters doesn't mean it won't ultimately be put into effect.

The tax levy now becomes the city's decision, a decision that Ferraina hasn't put a timetable on.

"The city must now approve and certify the tax levy," Ferraina said. "When? That is up to the city now."

Ferraina explained that the budget passed in most Lang Branch districts, with the exception of two districts in Elberon.

"We lost by about 50 votes in Elberon," Ferraina said. "So, we did well for most of the city."

Ferraina also admitted that the district is looking at ways to cut costs.

"One way we may save money in the future is by closing the elementary school on the West End," Ferraina said. "We have a principal retiring and teachers leaving, so we can shut down the school and save money and no one loses a job.

"We are not just looking at this budget," Ferraina said. "We are looking at ways to cut costs for 2009, 2010, 2011 and all the way up to 2012."

"I am breaking my back trying to cut costs and still educate the children of Long Branch as best we can," Ferraina added.

Voters re-elected three incumbents to three three-year terms on the Long Branch Board of Education. Mary George, Lucille Perez and Bill Dangler ran unopposed and retained their seats on the school board.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.