Read their lips: No new taxes.
That’s the upshot of the last Shamong Board of Education meeting where the preliminary 2012–2013 school budget was given a green light to go to the county superintendent for approval.
The budget, at $14,068,811, means no additional school taxes for Shamong residents.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dolores Szymanski said the district is “very fortunate” because of the way things played out in the last year, including using state health benefits plans.
“We were able to garner a great deal of savings from that, so based on our preliminary budget, all programs will be intact for the coming year,” she said, noting the district won’t know for sure until they see state-aid figures.
“We worked very hard to keep things level,” Szymanski said. “I should hope they would be thrilled.”
Szymanski, now retired from being the superintendent at Burlington County Institute of Technology, is temporarily taking the reins in Shamong.
“I think this district is in extremely good shape because of the strong governance and the work of the business administrator,” she said. “In many of our surrounding districts in the last few years, they have experienced tremendous cuts in personnel and programs and because of the prudent approach here in Shamong we have not experienced that.”
School Business Administrator Michael Mados said the budget, as is, would not require public approval at the polls this year because it falls under the 2 percent cap.
However, it still needs to be approved by the board, the county superintendent and the state for final approval.
“There were a number of good things that happened,” Mados said, noting three people retired (their replacements are less expensive), there was a fund balance from last year’s budget and the removal of two students who had been sent out of district for $50,000 each per year.
“We’re able now to lower the expenses and (will) be able to lower the tax levy for the taxpayers all at the same time,” he said. “There are no surprises. It was through the great planning by the board, through very austere times in the past.”
He said the district lost about 15 percent of state aid about three years ago.
Mados also said the district settled with unions and instituted a district-wide freeze on salaries last year.
“That was a major thing,” he said. “It’s all a cooperation of the entire school community. When you work together, you put all your resources together and now we have a good environment for the students where now we don’t have to cut programs, we don’t have to cut staff, and we don’t have to raise taxes.”
