Lakewood, NJ – Property owners would see a 4 percent jump – 3.4 cents – in the school tax rate based on a 2009-10 budget that the Board of Education introduced Monday night.
The board voted to submit to the county a $73.6 million tax levy, of which $72.4 million will be decided by voters. The rest would go toward a debt service tax that does not appear on the ballot. The proposed budget totals $138.35 million.
The tax rate is to rise to 91.92 cents per $100 of assessed property value, according to the proposal, meaning someone with a home valued at $400,000 will pay about $136 more in school tax next year. The 4 percent increase from last year is the maximum allowed by the state.
Last year, the budget failed for the third year in a row. Voters will decide next year’s tax levy on April 21.
Since 2006, the district had been plagued with debt. It ended that school year with a $1.1 million deficit, which was compounded the following year when officials realized they needed another $7 million in revenue to pull out of the red by 2009.
District Business Administrator Robert Finger said the $6.5 million sale of the administration building on Princeton Avenue to the Beth Medrash Govoha yeshiva last fall has cured these shortfalls and allowed the district to end last school year with a $277,000 surplus. He anticipates ending the 2008-09 year $257,000 in the black, he said.
“It wiped out all the problems that ensued before I got here with (mistakes in) grants and misspending,” Finger said, referring to roughly $4.3 million in such over-expenditures. The sale also paid for about $800,000 in security upgrades and a new alternative school.
Finger acknowledged, however, that the plan to pad the surplus with money from the sale “didn’t really work out.”
The administration has since signed a five-year lease to occupy about 17,000 square feet at the site of the former Jamesway department store on Route 9 that is also owned by BMG.
Finger also expects some $8 million in federal stimulus cash for next year but no additional state aid.
(Source: Asbury Park Press)
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4 Responses
I dont understand Lakewood most Kids in Lakewood dont use public schools.Where are the askonim???
What does this mean:
Finger acknowledged, however, that the plan to pad the surplus with money from the sale “didn’t really work out.”?
So the whole sale was a sham? They sold their best asset and accomplished nothing from it?
How long will this incompetence go on? Is it incompetence or are some pockets being lined?
Time for everybody in Lakewood to say, enough is enough!
We don’t need any money from the school board, no busing, no special ed, etc…. and let’s start chopping the budget big time.
The amount of money we taxpayers pay, with the excuse that we are getting bussing and special ed, just ain’t worth it.
They think that as long as they threaten the busing, we’ll just keep going along with these growing budgets!
We would be a lot better off paying for our own busing and slashing the school budget by 2/3.
Hopefully we’ll start getting leaders in town who give a hoot about the taxpayers, not about the “Narrow Special interests…”!
The maximum, that is, barring creative rule bending by tax authorities. This 4% rule was supposed to help create tax reform, but instead has become just another rule to unofficially ignore in most municipalities. 5%-12% is normal.
schools?
how many yiden and how many goyim live in lakewood?
the percentage of heimishe yiden in the township (50 % min.) says it all!
no normal person in town beleives that it goes to SCHOOL (public I mean…) THE place that gets it will stop getting it one day!
why should a yungerman that mitches himself to pay an aprox. 2K dollars mortgage have to pay an adt’l 6-8 thousand dollars a year in TAXES!
lakewood listen up: it’s 2009! no one is buying I anymore! its gonna take time but at the end, we will see who’s gonna laugh last! we just need to be courage and each developement talk and arrange ppl etc. etc.
p.s. why does BMG need the princeton bldg? to be vacant like the jamesway one?
p.p.s. oy, oy vey…