$33M Verona BOE Budget Means $126 Tax Increase

The Verona Board of Education approved a $33 million final budget for the 2013-14 school year during Tuesday night's meeting.

According to Verona Superintendent Steven Forte, 94.5 percent of the budget will be funded through local taxes, which means a tax levy increase of 2.5 percent.

Based on the average assessed home in Verona at $360,200, a Verona resident can expect an increase of $126 in their property taxes, said Verona Board of Education member Joseph Bellino.

By state mandate a budget does not have to go to a public vote if it is under a two percent increase on the tax levy.

However, said Forte, this budget does not have to go to a public vote even though it is a half-percent above the cap because the district qualifies for waivers on healthcare costs.

Verona will use $139,007 of its banked cap, with $389,881 going toward the 2014-15 budget.

“We qualified for this money but we didn't take it so we can use the money in the future,” said Forte.

The district also received flat state aid of $843,727 towards the 2013-14 budget.

Forte presented an overview of the budget and explained what is and what isn't included in the $33,686,705 budget.

“There will be a realignment of staff to increase the staff in the grades where there are more children and reduce the staff in the grades where there are less children,” said Forte.

The budget maintains the neighborhood school system with principals and nurses in each building and has specialized instruction in foreign language technology and art, he added.

As far as curricular improvements, the district will have professional development in reading and writing workshops and a new autistic program for students who were aging out of the current program.

Forte discussed some items that were previously discussed that were not able to make it into the budget because of constraints.

Not included in the budget is money for security items such as entryways and cameras.

However, an engineering firm will be hired to conduct an audit of the buildings and grounds to decide ways to improve security, said Forte.

Click here for the full 2013-2014 school budget presentation.