School Board OKs Budget With 1.8% Increase

The Hackettstown Schools Board of Education approved its tentative 2013-12 budget Wednesday night, preparing it for the county’s review, according to Business Administrator Teresa Barna.

The spending plan has a 1.8-percent increase in the tax levy, coming in under the state mandated 2-percent cap imposed by Governor Chris Christie. The total budget is $31,323,413, Barna said.

For the levy–the portion funded by taxes–the board approved a $14,809,950 spending plan, which translates to 3.8 cents for every $100 on the assessed Hackettstown home.

The levy increased $241,450 over the 2012-13 year, which came in at $14,568,500, Barna said. That budget was just a 1-percent increase over the previous year, with a tax rate of 2.7-cents per $100 of assessed home value.

An home in Hackettstown worth $300,000 will see a property tax increase of $111 next year from the school budget.

Hackettstown’s for the current year. The board budgeted for just 75-percent of the federal aid amount it received last year, as a Congress-induced sequestration threatens to cut some $30 million in funds to New Jersey schools.

The budget accounts for all expenditures–teacher salaries, transportation, building costs–at the district’s four schools: Hackettstown High School, Willow Grove School, Hatchery Hill School, and Hackettstown Middle School.

Superintendent Dave Mango has conducted the first of three scheduled “strategic planning” meetings involving community members and going over potential scenarios to save money and make curriculum stronger in the years ahead.

The next of those meetings is scheduled for Thursday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Hackettstown High School.

A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held Wednesday, March 27 at Hackettstown High School at 7 p.m.