West Deptford School Taxes Climb in the Face of Lost Ratables

Had the ratable base in West Deptford not declined by some $188 million in 2012, the average household would have seen almost $60 savings in school taxes under the budget proposed by the Board of Education at its March meeting Monday.

But that's not the case.

Instead, taxpayers can expect a net increase of 6.01¢ per $100 of assessed property valuation this year. Based on the average assessed value of $207,966, that’s an average annual increase in costs of $123.03, or $10.25 per month.

The district put forward possibly its most curriculum-intensive budget in history, said board President Christopher Strano—a necessity as the district works to bring its performance assessments in line with state expectations.

“The school board does not want to raise your taxes,” Strano said, but “the ratable shift in this town has dropped significantly.

"Where we collect the money to run the schools, the number of people is shrinking.”

The minimum allowable assessment that the district could make, according to state law, would have been 5.2¢ per $100 assessed, pointed out Superintendent Kevin Kitchenman.

"We’re less than a cent above the minimum where we could be,” he said.

In 2012-13, the district also had $413,794 in prior year state aid that is not available in 2014. Although the district will receive a 3.8 percent increase in state aid, “it’s still not where, by law, it should be,” Kitchenman said.

Focusing on student achievement

The 2013-14 budget is intended to increase student achievement and expand and improve the support the district offers for remedial services and at-risk populations, Kitchenman said.

It also maintains all instructional programs, current class sizes and all staff positions—not an easy thing to do, he said, while facing a shrinking ratable base.

Academically "at-risk" students are "our biggest trouble spot," Strano said, "bringing down a lot of benchmarks that are out there."

It isn't as if the district is spendthrift, either. When compared with the 66 other New Jersey schools of 1,800-3,500 pupils, Kitchenman said, West Deptford is fourth from the bottom in terms of total spending, sixth in classroom salaries and benefits, sixth in instruction costs, and seventh in budgetary costs.

Kitchenman also said that the budget went through several tough revisions in committee before appearing in the final form presented to the board on Monday.

“We proceeded to cut $1.38 million out of the budget before the board even saw it,” Kitcheman said, adding that the final proposed budget contains “zero dollars for capital improvements.

“We can’t afford it if we want our curriculum to move forward,” he said.

Cuts and more cuts

Trimming the budget meant losing, among other things, a gym floor at Oakview ($25,000) and a much-needed fire alarm system at Green-Fields ($250,000), for which the district had planned to set aside funds.

(Kitchenman noted that the "ancient" fire alarm system at Green-Fields isn't non-responsive, but that "they ring too much.")

But even after those cuts, Kitchenman said, "the board Finance Committee gave us a goal to go back and reduce the budget by an additional $550,000."

That meant cutting $375,000 in tuition costs for special needs and GCIT students and $200,000 in retirees whose positions will not be replaced with new hires.

The biggest cost increases for the new budget are similar to those everywhere in the county: health benefits, transportation and energy. The district is also entering into a contract negotiation with its teachers soon, Strano pointed out, and the possibility of salary increases also had to be figured into the equation.

In essence, "85 percent of the budget is fixed costs," Kitchenman said; "the other 15 percent is really what can be cut."

"As taxpayers in West Deptford, you’re funding 67.49 percent of the budget," he said. "Because state aid has gone down and hasn’t gone back up to the previous levels, you’re spending more." 

Capital expenditures loom

One of the final elements of Kitchenman's presentation was a reminder that the district will also face some $3.5 million in capital projects in 2014-17.

“There’s 14 HVAC units on the roof of this building that are so old that when they break down, they’re not even making parts,” Kitchenman said.

“The problem is, the longer you don’t fix what you need to fix, more things then join the list of things that need to be fixed.”