School budget comes in with no tax increase Old Bridge board used additional state to keep tax rate stable BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer The Old Bridge Board of Education introduced a tentative budget that would bring no tax increase to residents in the next school year. A 20-percent increase in state aid helped to make it possible. Also, school officials kept the budget well under the stateimposed cap on spending increases. "By law, every district in the state is allowed to increase their tax levy by 4 percent," School Business Administrator Nancy Mongon said. "Our tax levy in this budget is under the cap by over $3.5 million." New Jersey's School Funding Reform Act of 2008, approved Jan. 7 by lawmakers, changed the state's school-aid formula in that the per-pupil amount of funding will be the same across the board, regardless of the overall financial status of a district. In the past, poorer communities, known as Abbott school districts, received a 20-percent increase in funding each year. "We're using that $7.8 million [in state aid] to maintain a zero-point increase in the taxes," Board of Education President Frank Piccillo said. With the increase in aid, the district will be able to replace aging textbooks, as well as allocate $1.4 million toward renovations at Lombardi Stadium, the football field used by Old Bridge High School, officials said. "Clearly, something has to be done with Lombardi field," Superintendent of Schools Simon Bosco said. The Township Council voted down a plan Feb. 25 for a shared services agreement to jointly fund the rehabilitation project, largely because some members felt that using township funds gleaned through an agreement with a developer would not be in line with their intended use.B osco said the board expects to move forward with plans to improve the field with or without help from the township, but the work would be completed at a slower pace if the school district has to shoulder the expense alone. Regarding the overall budget, Mongon said the initial proposal would have brought a 1.5-cent increase in the school tax rate. "We estimated that we were going to have some retirements, and we wanted to get the tax levy to zero," Mongon said. Last year, when voters rejected the school budget and sent it to the Township Council for cuts, township officials charged school officials charged with reducing the tax levy by $1.175 million. Part of that reduction was achieved by including employee retirements that had not been taken into account when the budget was first introduced, Mongon said. Interest earned on funds in the bank was another source of money that had not been taken into account. The interest was categorized as "miscellaneous revenue." According to Mongon, school officials took a proactive approach by estimating retirements and projecting earned interest. With these two actions, budget numbers were slimmed, she said. The board also used additional monies from the district's unrestricted fund balance, which serves as a surplus account, Mongon said. The district is allowed to have equal to 2 percent of its operating budget in the unrestricted fund balance, according to Mongon. Since the balance exceeded the permitted amount by $500,000 at the end of last June, that money was used to bring about the zero tax increase, Mongon said. Piccillo said the $7.869 million from the state came as a result of the district's fiscal responsibility over the years, which was maintained while holding onto programs that were in place for the students. The board voted 5-1 to introduce the budget at a special meeting Feb. 28. Board member Matt Sulikowski cast the one dissenting vote. A public hearing on the budget and a vote to adopt it is scheduled to take place at the board's March 19 meeting.