West Deptford Administrators Slash Budget Ahead of Final Vote

A tentative $45.286 million budget passed just two weeks ago has already been slashed by nearly $900,000 in preparation for a final budget presentation in two weeks, administrators said Monday night.

Superintendent Kevin Kitchenman said they were able to save $868,000 by making cuts, but not to any existing staff or current programs, though he warned a mandate for additional cuts would hit either teaching positions or programs.

“There's nothing else to play with,” he said. “That's the bottom-line number.”

The new budget means an increase in the tax rate of 4.59¢ per $100 of assessed value, down from an 8.119¢ proposed increase in the intially proposed version. That brings the budget roughly in line with what school board President Christopher Strano had asked for when .

That means a home assessed at the township average of $207,966 would see an increase of $95.46 instead of $168.84.

School board finance committee chair Kate Cargill said the committee's still looking through the budget, though, leading up to the formal public presentation and final budget vote March 26.

“We're going to continue to fine-tune and see where we go in the next two weeks,” she said.

Much like the township, the school board is struggling with both the over , as well as a $172-million loss in ratable value across West Deptford.

At his initial budget presentation last month, Kitchenman noted the budget would've represented a tax rate increase of 0.688¢ per $100 of assessed value, or a little more than $14 for a home assessed at the $207,966 average, had the ratable base been stable.