School budget would raise tax rate 5 cents $30M tax levy would add $20 per month to avg. home's tax bill BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer The Long Branch School District Board of Education approved an $84.1 million spending plan last week for the 2007-08 school year. The budget would mean a 5.17-cent increase in the tax rate if adopted by city voters at polls on April 17. Under the proposed budget, the tax levy would be $30.3 million next year, according to School Business Administrator Peter Genovese. The 2007-08 school budget, which called for a tax levy of approximately $25 million, failed to be approved by voters. City taxpayers would see an increase from last year's 53.5-cent per $100 of assessed property value to 58.70 cents per $100 of assessed valuation if the spending plan is approved by voters. Although the board approved an $84.1 million budget, Genovese said the total spending plan will be increased throughout the year as the school receives and applies for grants. School officials asked taxpayers to approve an $83.7 million spending plan last year, which rose to $87.3 million after grants were applied, according to Genovese. The total budget for the 2007-08 school year will be approximately $395,000 more than the 2006-07 spending plan after all grants are factored into the budget, Genovese explained. According to Genovese, the largest areas of increase in the budget include benefits, salaries and utilities. For the average homeowner whose home is assessed at $476,000, the budget would mean an additional $20 per month in taxes, according to Genovese. The Long Branch School District is one of the original 28 districts in the state to be designated in 1990 as Abbott districts. The 11-school district remains one of the 31 Abbott districts. Abbott districts were mandated by the New Jersey Supreme Court to provide students in poorer urban school districts with "a thorough and efficient education."