South Brunswick BOE Adopts Budget With Staff Position Cuts, Tax Hike

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — At the last Board of Education meeting, members voted to adopt the 2023-24 budget with some staff cuts and tax increases for residents.

The budget highlighted how the school district is making the best out of the tough financial situation it finds itself in currently.

The district’s total operating budget is $144 million, with a 2 percent increase in tax levy amounting to $121 million.

This means a home accessed at $200,000 will see a yearly tax hike of $44.20, and a home accessed at $300,000 will see an increase of $66.30.

During the presentation, Superintendent Scott Feder told the community that 11 district positions will be eliminated, but students will face no programming loss. The job cuts will be saving the district $685,000 next year.

Feder clarified that the district will not be giving the pink slip to 11 employees, instead it will not be filling in positions left vacant through retirement and resignations.

Courtesy busing will also be reduced to save money. Four route packages will be reduced, impacting over 250 students. This would save the district $400,000 next year.

There will be an increase in fees for the Pay-to-Play program and Summer Institute. “The increase is 30 percent on the cost of a program,” Feder said. “It’s either increase it by a little bit or don’t do it (the program). But it’s a small increase.”

The district will also be increasing the fees for facility rentals and the details of those are currently being worked upon.

“Our buildings were not placed here for renting; our buildings are for educating students. But we do it because it’s a win-win. It helps us, it helps people that need the space,” Feder said.

The budget presented to the community includes the $4.1 million in stabilization aid. Feder explained that the amount was available for only one year after which the district will not have access to the amount.

The district has currently put all facilities and tech infrastructure projects on hold, focusing on doing some “patchwork” in the interim.

The district’s total revenue and expenditure for the budget year is $166 million, with the final budget-in-balance of $0.

This fiscal year, the district was facing a state aid cut of $4,063,240. But under a new bill passed recently by the Senate, the district saw a 65 percent reduction in the funding cut. SBSD will still lose over $1 million.

While the district has managed to balance the books for this year without much impact, the 2024-25 school year will be a challenge, with the district possibly needing over $13 million. You can watch the budget presentation here.

(In the next part of the series, Patch will focus on the impacts on the 2024-25 school year)

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