School budget would raise tax rate 1 cent Four vie for three open seats in April 15 Board of Education election BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer EATONTOWN- The Board of Education is planning to introduce a $21 million spending plan this month for the 2008-09 school year. The proposed budget calls for a tax levy of $13 million, Board of Education Business Administrator Dominic Carrea said. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled to be held at 7:30 p.m. March 26 at the Memorial Middle School on Grant Avenue. The proposed budget would mean a 1- cent increase in the tax rate if adopted by borough voters on April 15. Borough taxpayers would see an increase from last year's 3.75-cent per $100 of assessed property value to 3.76 cents per $100 of assessed valuation if the spending plan is approved at the polls, according to Carrea. For the average homeowner whose home is assessed at $399,055, the budget would mean an additional $39.91 in taxes a year, Carrea said. Carrea explained that the 1-cent tax rate increase is the result of three major capital improvement projects slated for the 2008-09 school year. Improvement projects include the construction of the district's central administration offices at the Memorial Middle School, the repaving of two school parking lots, and the construction of a districtowned wide-area-network. The wide-area-network will enable the four schools in the district to connect directly with each other over the Internet, allowing for faster communication, Carrea said. Carrea added that a basic skills teacher and two kindergarten aides have been added in the district, which accounts for a portion of the tax increase. Board members voted at the March 3 Board of Education meeting to approve a resolution calling for the establishment of a current-expense emergency account. "Acurrent-expense emergency account is used to fund emergencies that have not been budgeted for in the year's school budget," Carrea said. The emergency account would appropriate $150,000 from the board's proposed 2008-09 budget to allow the district to deal with unforeseen expenses, according to Carrea. Carrea explained that the proposed tax increase for the 2008-09 school year is less significant than the increase taxpayers saw for the 2007-2008 school year. Taxpayers saw an increase of $151 a year in taxes per household last year as compared to this year's increase of $39.91 under the proposed spending plan, according to Carrea. The tax increase is down from last year because of a "significant" surplus in the budget, Carrea said. "Our surplus situation is better than it has been in a number of years." The school district surplus was increased this year to $2,976,795 as a result of the sale of the Steelman School to the Ilan High School Building Association. The school was sold for $1.4 million, according to Carrea. The proceeds from the sale of the Steelman School will be used to fund the construction of the new central administrative offices at the Memorial Middle School, Carrea explained. He added that there was also money added to the surplus that was earned from the district's 2006 bond referendum sale. "So you have a combination to account for a greater amount of surplus to be used for tax relief next year," Carrea said. Carrea explained that during the 2007- 08 school year, approximately $400,000 of interest earned on the 2006 bond referendum sale was used by the district to offset tax relief for borough residents. "For next year, the board passed a resolution [in September], transferring an additional $413,000 [of interest collected on the bond referendum] into the general fund," Carrea said. The district is also expected to receive less money in state aid for the 2008-09 school year, according to Carrea. Borough taxpayers will be asked to vote on the 2008-09 school budget onApril 15. Three incumbents and one newcomer are vying for three open seats on the ninemember Board of Education. Incumbent candidates are Mark Kramer of Grant Avenue, Stacey Lastella ofMeadowbrookAvenue, andMark Regan of Tess Court. Challenging the incumbent candidates is Tina Curtis of Lewis Street.