At the Moorestown Township Board of Education special meeting, business administrator Lynn Shugars gave a presentation on early budget projections for the 2016–2017 school year. The projections have a deficit of $1.4 million, based on expenditures of $68 million and revenue of $66.6 million, including a 2 percent tax levy increase.
“These are just projections. This is basically just taking the 2015–2016 budget and projecting it into the 2016–2017 budget. These are not exact numbers, these are just estimates,” Shugars said.
The school district begins the budget process early to see challenges and other things that need to be thought about for the upcoming year. Shugars gave the presentation to make the board aware of the upcoming year.
For 2016–2017, it is predicted that expenditures will total around $68 million, which is a 3.99 percent increase over the 2015–2016 school year. This is based off an increase in lease purchase, for technology and textbooks, 2 percent increase in salaries and 12.6 percent increase in employee benefits. Revenue predicted is $66.6 million, including a 2 percent tax levy hike. That leaves the school district with a $1.4 million deficit.
The district has the possibility to use banked cap from the 2013–2014 school year, totaling $742,894. However, that would still leave about a $700,000 gap.
The potential tax impact for the average assessed home at $446,500 would result in an increase of $121.46 at a 2 percent
tax levy increase and $204.95 with banked cap added.
“Our revenues are not keeping up with our expenditures and we have the potential of a deficit, just using projections, of $1.4 million. So that is something we will have to think about as we move into this budget. Are there other revenue sources we can tap into? Are there other cost-cutting measures to make those revenues and expenditures even out?” Shugars asked.
During the presentation, Shugars also suggested the board bring back the idea of having a participation fee, or pay-to-play, for sports, clubs and theater. This would create additional revenue for the school district. The participation fee example used that night was $100 for clubs, sports and theater in the high school and $75 in the middle school.
Board members talked about their concerns with the pay-to-play numbers, as some activities cost more than others and it doesn’t seem fair for everyone to pay the same amount, they said.
It is anticipated the board will once again receive updates on the 2016–2017 budget process in January, the first week of February after budget software and guidelines are released, and the first week of March after the release of state aid. The initial submission for the budget is March 22. A public hearing will be held between April 25 and May 9.
