Community Corner

Manasquan Schools Secures $4.72M Disaster Loan

A loan awarded due to the impact Hurricane Sandy had on the district will add $4.72 million to Manasquan School's coffers.

Manasquan School Board Vice President Michael Shelton announced in his budget committee report that the school district had secured a Community Disaster Loan Program of $4.72 million.

"This is substantial," Shelton said. The loan amount is more than Manasquan borough received to offset its budget, with a $2.7 million loan for the municipality.

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Shelton said the school district loan will be used to offset a tax increase and to restore programs.

The original budget called for raising school taxes by 5.11 percent — meaning taxpayers would pay $217.76 more on average. The loss of taxable property had the school district raising taxes to 90.06 cents per $100 of assessed property value, officials said.

Find out what's happening in Manasquan-Belmarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But the $4.72 million would offset the tax increase, Shelton said. 

"Under guidelines of FEMA this could be used to reduce tax exposure that you had," Shelton told the audience at this week's board meeting. "Tax increase is going away. That’s very positive news...For anybody here that pays taxes we got our bonus."

Originally the approved budget called for cuts to after school programs such as the ice hockey program. Shelton said with this CDC money the ice hockey program would be restored.

So would some positions at risk under the original budget. Shelton said staffing cut under the 2013 would be restored. Originally, a retired elementary school nurse, a high school custodian, a high school physical education staff member, and a high school guidance counselor were all out of the budget.

The school district's CDC award is also being considered as funding for security upgrades and technology spending. 


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