Crafting school and municipal budgets and keeping staff in place may prove difficult for Guttenberg this year.
The Board of Education passed their $13.9 million 2010-2011 fiscal year budget on March 31. The public will vote on this budget, along with four unopposed school board candidates, on April 20.
Guttenberg’s school district under Gov. Christopher Christie’s state 2010-2011 fiscal year budget lost about $800,000 in aid this year. Officials here said this loss will cause the school portion of overall taxes to increase, and Anna L. Klein, the sole school in the district, will be forced to lay off employees.
Mayor Gerald Drasheff said he is expecting an $800,000 loss in state aid for the town as well, and said it was possible the municipality may lose even more. He said that from the municipal budget, an overall 10 to 12 percent tax increase for residents is very possible.
The district also expects to cut its athletic programs and lay off around 22 faculty members.
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The reality
“We are doing everything we can to try and stop and deal with this, but that’s the reality of the numbers, and I understand what the governor is doing,” Drasheff said. “He’s trying to get everyone’s attention that times have changed, but at the same time I don’t think they’ve done this fairly in terms of saying what towns are trying to run efficiently and make good use of their money. Every dollar we get for aid goes to services for the public. It doesn’t go to increased salaries.”
Layoffs and fewer programs
The Board of Education raised their tax levy for this year’s budget by 7.5 percent. In the $13.9 million budget, $9.4 million will be needed from taxpayers, versus last year’s $8.75 million.
For a property owner with an assessed value of $235,000, which normally would pay combined taxes of around $13,790 each year, school taxes alone will rise approximately $380, said Drasheff.
The district also expects to completely cut its athletic programs and lay off around 22 faculty members, a large loss for a school with around 100 employees and 1,000 students, said Drasheff.
Drasheff said that the town would try and replace the school’s athletic program with its recreation program.
While they have finalized the funds they will be working with, Drasheff said that the district does not yet know how they will stick to the budget.
He said that due to the aid cuts, four classrooms may be combined into three, increasing the number of pupils per room.
“The program is going to be more crowded and the crowded conditions in that school are pretty well known to everybody,” said Drasheff. “This is going to exasperate it a bit.”
Hopes to keep staff, services
The town of Guttenberg was hit with a 17.45 percent, or $800,000 loss in aid, but Drasheff said this is being compounded by other losses of funds.
He said that normally the town receives extraordinary aid from the state, last year receiving $300,000, but this year he is assuming that it is “completely gone.”
The Regional Efficiency Aid Program (REAP), a tax rebate for homeowners under the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue’s coverage, will end under Christie’s budget. Drasheff said the town normally received around $280,000 from the program, which gets passed on as savings to the taxpayers.
He said assuming the Hudson County tax levy remains the same, and there is not a health insurance increase, a resident with a $235,000 home will likely see a $450 municipal tax increase on top of the school tax increase.
He said that the town, which has been in contract negotiations with its Police Department for over a year, will probably also see increases in its health insurance.
Drasheff said that it would be difficult to go through with Town Hall layoffs, since many town employees are part-time and/or wear many hats. For example, Town Administrator Michael Caliguiro is also the director of public safety and of the DPW.
“We don’t have layers of bureaucrats working here,” said Drasheff. “We get hit with the same cuts towns with millions and millions of aid are getting.”
Still he said he could not rule the layoffs out.
“It’s a very bleak picture right now,” said Drasheff.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.