CWC BOE Adopts Proposed $40 Million Budget

The Caldwell-West Caldwell Board of Education adopted the 2011-12 proposed budget – which brings no increase to the local tax levy – Monday night before a handful of people from the public.

The proposed budget of $40,282,889 represents an increase of $548,125, or 1.38%, over the current 2010-11 budget.

The proposed tax levy for Caldwell is $1.14 per $100 of assessed value, compared to the current tax levy of $1.11 per $100.

For West Caldwell, the proposed tax levy is $1.17 per $100 of assessed value, compared to the current tax levy of $2.25 per $100.

The average property owner in Caldwell would see an increase of $129 to their tax bill. In West Caldwell, which just had a property tax revaluation, the average property owner would see an average decrease of $8 to their tax bill.

The average assessment of properties in both towns is $432,000. Before the evaluation, the average home in West Caldwell was assessed at $225,000.

According to Board of Education Secretary and Business Administrator Ronald Skopak, the figures for West Caldwell are preliminary.

The public will have a chance to vote on the budget on Wednesday, April 27.

The budget factors in $370,184 in state aid, which Gov. Chris Christie announced the district would receive in February. The district also projects it will receive $583,000 in extraordinary aid. Also included is more than $51,000 from an education job grant the district chose not to use last year in order to carry over into this budget.

In 2010, the district did not receive confirmation about extraordinary aid until June 29. Both state aid and extraordinary aid figures need to be signed off on by the state legislature later this year.

According to the district, the proposed budget does not represent any cuts in staffing or programs and keeps class size consistent. The proposed budget does not include any outlay for capital improvements.

The three largest areas of expenditure are teacher salaries, the district’s special education program and services, and personnel and employee benefits, which in the proposed budget represent $11,817,934, $9,007,879 and $6,455,265 respectively.

Skopak identified three “prime movers” Monday, which he said have helped the district keep costs down.

First, he said special education programs and services usually represent 50 percent of the budget increase; the 2011-12 budget has a $5,998 decrease in special education costs.

Secondly, health benefits, which were projected to account for 23-25% of the budget increase, are projected at only 8 ½%. Skopak said the district has saved more than $75,000 by having employees contribute 1 ½% of their salaries toward their health benefits. Another $75,000 has been reduced by offering employees who have health benefits through another means an incentive to waive benefits.

The third area of savings is utilities. Skopak said new roofs and boilers, as well as purchasing natural gas and electricity through a co-op, have reduced utility costs between 15 and 20%. A new phone system has also resulted in savings to the district.

Marie Lanfrank, chairman of the Caldwell-West Caldwell Education Foundation, asked the board Monday how the Abbott District lawsuit, which claims Gov. Christie's budget underfunds the state's poorest districts by $1.6 billion, could impact the proposed budget.

“No one knows right now,” said Skopak, adding that state aid could potentially be reduced on account of the lawsuit. “If that happens, we would then have to look at where we can move things around. We are always ready for surprises.”

The proposed budget includes surplus money in the amount of $565,000 to protect the district from such surprises.

A PDF of the proposed budget adopted on March 28 is attached to the media gallery.