Verona School Board Adopts $31.6 Million Spending Plan

The Verona Board of Education unanimously approved a $31.6 million budget for the 2011-2012 school year Tuesday night, which wrestles with the two percent cap on property tax increases ordered by Gov. Chris Christie and a reduction of approximately $2.5 million in state aid over the last two years, school officials said.

Under the new budget, the average Verona homeowner should see an increase of $104 from last year or an extra $8.66 per month on their school taxes, according to Charles B. Sampson, district superintendent. The budget has a tax levy of $27,158,547, which is an increase of 2 percent from last year’s levy or $532,000.

The bulk of the budget, 71 percent or $20.1 million, is devoted to salaries and benefits, according to documents provided by the board. Special education is 19 percent or $5.4 million while discretionary and non-discretionary spending make up $1 million and $1.6 million respectively.

To address the two percent tax cap and the reduction in state aid, Sampson said they looked at various ways to reduce personnel costs and share services.

Sampson pointed out the budget cuts 10 instructional aides. Board President John Quattrocchi had said previously that those cuts realized $210,000 in savings.

Sampson also said cuts are coming from eliminating an assistant business administration position and placing those duties with a bookkeeper, saving $30,000.

The school district also saw savings by sharing with other districts cafeteria management and special education transportation, Sampson said.

In a previous story, Quattrocchi said an additional $75,000 in reductions was realized through utilities savings, and $25,000 was saved due to breakage, or the difference in salaries between retiring teachers on the high end of the pay scale and a newly hired one, for a grand total of $310,000 in cuts.

“We are existing in a flat budget,” Sampson said during the meeting which attracted about 25 to 30 people at Verona High School last night. “We haven’t had a lot of waste,” he said, comparing the budget to similar school districts which have both higher tax levies and cost per pupil numbers.

The budget increases are due to personnel costs, non-discretionary spending such as legal fees, increased enrollment, and state mandates such as financial literacy courses and anti-bullying sessions, Sampson said. Those are difficult to cut, he conceded.

Resident Gerard Shimonaski said he thought the school board did a good job on corralling costs while working under the two percent tax cap and the reduction in state aid.

“This is the probably the toughest budget we’ve had,” he said.

Al Deold, a former Verona teacher, said he had hoped they would have come under the two percent cap.

“But I realize it’s a difficult thing because of the state mandates,” he said, referring to the anti-bullying sessions.

“They have to hire people to teach the bullying classes. They must do these things,” he said.

The budget will be up for a vote on April 27.