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Schools

Proposed Central Regional Budget Includes Tax Hikes for 4 of 5 Towns in District

Layoffs looming for some district employees, including teaching staff

Seaside Park and Island Heights residents will take the biggest hit in school tax increases in the proposed Central Regional school district 2011-2012 budget, the school business administrator said.

Seaside Park residents will pay an additional $247.82 or 0.0444 cents per $100 of assessed value in the coming year, primarily because the average home in the waterfront borough is assessed at $558,160, Business Administrator Kevin O'Shea said.

“The reason that Seaside Park is going up as much as it is for this proposed budget is because it was the only town that had a property value increase, while the other towns' values declined," he said

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Central Regional accepts middle and high school students from five towns in the sending district - Berkeley Township, Seaside Park, Seaside Heights, Island Heights and Ocean Gate.

The school tax rates in four of the five sending districts will rise in the proposed $33.25 million budget for the 2011-2012 school year, which is up from $32,386,613 last year. Only Seaside Heights will see a decrease. The amount to be raised by taxation wil rise to $27,489,152, up from $26,673,913 last year.

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And while the district was able to avoid layoffs last year, that will not be the case this year.  O'Shea is holding off on sending out layoff notices to district employees, to see if any more positions can be eliminated through retirements or attrition.

The number of layoffs will be discussed at the public hearing on the budget, which starts at 6 p.m. on March 28 in the presentation room at Central Regional High School.

"We are definitely anticipating layoffs," O'Shea said. "The cuts we will make will get us to a much better position next year".

The district was hampered this year by the state-imposed 2 percent tax levy cap, less state aid and contractual obligations that have to be met, he said.

“The budget is higher than last year primarily due to the need to purchase textbooks, school buses (both of which were cut from the current year budget), and contractual obligations that were in place before the two percent levy cap law was signed," O'Shea said.

The proposed budget includes $96,000 for new textbooks. The district's math textbooks are over 10 years old, he said.

O'Shea said he hopes to negotiate changes in all the district's four labor contracts, before they expire on June 30, 2012. Currently, district employees pay nothing towards the cost of their health care premiums. The contracts were all negotiated before the state mandated that public employees pay at least 1.5 percent towards the cost of health care premiums. Employees do pay co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions, O'Shea said.

O’Shea acknowledged that the budget was a difficult one.  

“While we are facing a difficult budget for 2011-12, I’m encouraged that the following years will be far less painful," he said. "'We’ve made cuts to administration, including the elimination of the assistant superintendent and a vice principal in the high school. We anticipate having some announcements regarding additional shared services and transportation jointures with neighboring districts in the coming months, which will save taxpayer dollars.”

If the proposed tax levy, or the amount to be raised by taxation of  $27,489,152 is approved by voters, property owners who reside in:

Berkeley Township, with an average assessed home value of $201,400, will face an increase of $11.28 for the 2011/2012 tax year, an increase of .0056 cents per $100 of assessed value. The current tax rate for the Central Regional school district is 0.3697 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Island Heights, with an average assessed home value of $388,981, will face an increase of $224.83 for the 2011/2012 tax year, an increase of 0.0578 cents per $100 of assessed value. The current tax rate for the Central Regional School District is 0.3007 cents per $100 of assessed value.

“The reason for the increase is due mainly to a spike in enrollment, since fewer students are attending Monsignor Donovan and a large seventh-grade class entered this year from that town," O'Shea said. "Enrollment from Island Heights increased 25 percent from last year, and that's why their tax rate is going up so much."

Ocean Gate, with an average assessed home value of $242,300, will face an increase of $37.56 for the 2011/2012 tax year, an increase of 0.0155 cents per $100 of assessed value. The current tax rate for the Central Regional School District is 0.3583 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Seaside Heights, with an average assessed home value of $302,035, will see a decrease of $9.36 or 0.0031 cents per $100 of assessed value. The current tax rate for Central Regional school district is 0.2957 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Because the formula for the tax apportionment involves equalized value and student enrollment, the percent that each town pays varies each year, O'Shea said.

The district has little in the way of reserves in the proposed budget. Last year school officials anticipated roughly $1 million in surplus. This year the anticipated surplus will be closer to $300,000, he said.

The budget also calls for the addition of an autistic program at the middle school, which will actually save the district money on costly out of district tuition payments, Superintendent Triantafillos (Tom) Parlapanides has said.

The district typically spends about $30,000 on tuition for out of district students, and if they require a one-on-one aide, that would be an additional $20,000, O'Shea said.

The proposed budget sets aside $50,000 for a special education teacher for the autistic program.

 Once the budget is approved, the district will begin the interview process for a new teacher, so the teacher is in place this summer when prospective parents will tour the school, according to Parlapanides.

Voters go to the polls to vote on the tax levy on April  27.

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