Monmouth Regional BOE proposes leaner budget

Monmouth Regional BOE proposes leaner budget
Tax levy cut by $200K from previous year
BY KEN WALTER Staff Writer

TINTON FALLS — The Monmouth Regional High School District Board of Education is proposing a $25,388,429 school budget for the 2009-10 school year.

The budget represents a $418,463 decrease from last year's budget of $25,806,892.

As proposed, the budget calls for a tax levy of $18,756,384, a decrease of $218,537 from last year.

"We reduced the tax levy and the overall budget without reducing the quality of service," Maria Anne Parry, Monmouth Regional High School business administrator, said last week.

"The budget has been approved by Monmouth County Superintendent Carole Knopp Morris," Parry said during the March 31 public hearing on the budget.

The school budget last year failed to gain the approval of all of the Monmouth Regional sending districts.

Despite being passed by voters in both Tinton Falls and Shrewsbury Township, the budget did not gain the approval of Eatontown voters last year, failing by 42 votes of the roughly 9 percent of Eatontown registered voters who cast ballots.

"We hope the budget passes by our constituents' vote," Monmouth Regional Superintendent James Cleary said. "It is a very conservative budget."

Eatontown residents would see an increase of 2.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in the tax rate, to 35.98 cents per $100, if the budget is approved. Taxes would increase by $89.56 a year to an average of $1,436.68.

Shrewsbury residents would see a tax rate increase of 0.16 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, to 31.41 cents per $100, and would pay an average of $642.71 per year.

Tinton Falls residents would see their taxes go down $108.90 a year, or 3.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Borough taxpayers would pay $32.61 per $100 of assessed valuation, or an average of $1,120.90 a year.

"The differences in Tinton Falls and Eatontown have to do with the percentage share of the towns and the average assessed home value," Parry said.

Eatontown's percentage share is up almost 3 percent from last year, to 46.5 percent. The borough's average home is assessed at $399,202.

Tinton Falls' percentage share is down by almost 3 percent, to 52.27 percent, and the average home is assessed at $343,683.

The district also received the same amount of state aid — $4,557,437 — as last year.

The district cut funding in some areas, including $198,191 in programs, $136,588 in special-education costs, and undistributed expenditures by $4,731.

"We are very sensitive to the economy," Cleary said. "That is why we tried to make the most fiscally prudent budget we could make."

"We are proud of our students and proud of our 200-plus staff," Cleary said.

Taxpayers will vote on the budget on April 21.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.