New classes, staff and curriculum are on the way in the Lyndhurst school district, but surprisingly enough with all those frills, only a minimal anticipated tax hike will accompany it, according to the budget laid out by the board of education last week.
On April 15, residents will be voting on a $32.17 million budget (including debt service) that would be funded by a tax levy of $28.48 million. To the average assessed homeowner, one owning a house valued at $433,719 in the township, an approval on the budget would mean an additional $66 on top of what they were billed on last year’s school portion of their tax bills. This year’s total school tax bill would be $3,440.84, or a two-percent increase on that average homeowner.
"The budget has everything in it that we're doing this year, so there is no program elimination, it's exactly what we're doing now, just going forward," said Superintendent Joseph Abate.
The increase is due in part to an anticipated increased population of approximately 36 students, 31 of which are classified as regular full-time, many coming from the new Avalon Bay apartment complex in the Meadowlands. Operation and maintenance of facilities, due in part to high energy bills, are also expected to rise, tacking on $285,000 to the budget and employee benefit contributions are to rise $316,000.
Like last year, the township is also looking to pose an additional budget question for $700,000 worth of various capital improvements. The funds would cover the costs of replacement interior fire doors at various schools, exterior window replacement at various schools, playground paving and fencing at various schools. The extra question would add another $43 to the tax bill. If both the budget and question passes, another $109 would be tacked onto the average assessed homeowner’s school tax bill. Overall, with both passing on election day, it would mean a total $3,484 tax bill or an overall 3.2-percent rise in school taxes from last year.
Additional questions, however, do not have good track records in Lyndhurst. Just last year, voters not only voted down the budget on election day, but defeated two additional proposals, one similar to the capital improvement question this year and another that would add new classes, alumni relations and tech support. The question faces one more hurdle this year as a new law that goes into effect this year demands that additional budget questions must pass by a 60-percent majority margin.
"What it will buy is the continual upgrades this district needs," said Abate of the $700,000 outlay proposal. "We started replacing windows two years ago, why? For safety purposes, for energy purposes…some of them don’t open, some if you open they close so quickly so watch out for your fingers and of course energy is consistently seeping out because of those windows."
Lyndhurst is set to receive the highest increase of state aid, according to thresholds established by the new school funding formula, 20 percent. The amount will give the district an additional $432,000 and although encouraged by the state to use a portion to offset property taxes, Lyndhurst has decided to take new money and allocate it to new programming, staff and curriculum changes. The board said it would be a disservice to not provide more elective programs and qualified staffing to teach them when the funding was presented to them free and clear. One of the additional questions on last year’s budget was similar in its makeup to the curriculum that will be added thanks to the state aid.
"There's a misconception out there because it's already been questioned, ‘why don't we take that money and use it for tax relief?’" said Abate. "The reason that Lyndhurst received that money is because based on state statistics, we don't spend nearly as much as most other districts per pupil. So that's the state's philosophy in giving Lyndhurst a boost and trying to bring our per pupil spending or our adequacy up with what the rest of the districts in the state are doing."
Overall, the township plans to use the $400,320 for expanded technology, such as the purchase of Tablet PCs and new electives and the staff to accompany them, such as journalism, photography and psychology in literature. Specialized staffing for athletics and a student assistance counselor to help act as a liaison for the proposed walk-in crisis center at the high school are also on the list. A variety of new Advanced Placement (AP) courses will be implemented as well.
If the budget is voted down on April 15 and it went on the chopping block to the board of commissioners, Abate said he would start offering up the new programs that would be funded by the extra aid first.
"My recommendation would be to put the new programs out there first," he said. "It would be a lot easier to lose things we never had in the first place," he said.
What the budget means to you
Proposal #1 (Budget)
Total Budget: $32.17 million
Tax levy: $28.48 million
Tax increase: $66
Total tax bill: $3,441
Proposal #2 (Capital Outlay)
Proposition: $700,000
Components: Interior fire rated doors at various schools
Exterior window replacement at various schools
Repave playgrounds at minimum two elementary schools
Fencing at various schools
Additional tax: $43
Total tax bill: $3,484
*Tax increase and bill is based on the average assessed home of $433,719
