Sandy Impact: Manasquan School Tax Rate Up; Average Tax Bill Increases $217

The destruction of Manasquan ratables from Hurricane Sandy and decreased student enrollment, officials said, is driving school taxes up by 5.11 percent — meaning taxpayers will pay $217.76 more on average.

The loss of taxable property has the school district raising taxes to 90.06 cents per $100 of assessed property value, officials said.

Last year, the tax rate was 86.19 cents, when the average home value was $500,000. Board Vice President Michael Shelton said Hurricane Sandy has changed the average home value to $473,400 for Manasquan.

Hurricane Sandy also could impact enrollment: “We don’t know if the family that rented a house will be back. We don’t know what to tell the family that lost their home. We don’t know, they don’t know,” Shelton said.

The budget approved tonight was approved because the district “has to have a budget” but the budget process remains “fluid and ongoing,” he said.

A home valued at the borough average would see an annual tax bill of $4,263.44.

“This is due to the loss of ratables from the storm,” Shelton said. “There’s no additional spending, but we still have to reach further into the pocket of taxpayers.”

The Manasquan school budget is $23.991 million. Although the school tax levy amount is identical to last year, the school budget approved tonight at the district school board meeting is $3.9 million less than last year.

Last year's budget was approximately $26 million, with officials at the time citing roof replacement and unfunded county and state mandates as reason behind a 4.5 percent increase in taxation.

Of the $23.991 million total expenditures, about $1 million will go toward debt service.

Approximately $13.706 million will come from tax revenue. The school district is anticipating another $10 million in revenue from sources such as state aid, which is $500,000.

Tuition revenue is less than last year, dropping to $8.8 million from $9.1 million.

Among the new spending: a new k-5 language arts series, new cafeteria tables and increased paraprofessional hours at the Elementary School. New at the high school level will be the restoration of PSAT testing and increased funding for Advanced Placement testing.

“Our kids have been doing very well (in AP) and we want to continue they’ll be doing well,” Shelton said.

Enrollment has been going down, and that coupled with ongoing negotiations, state mandates and FEMA loans pending, have been the major factors affecting this year’s budget, Shelton said.

The district is anticipating an enrollment of 1,612 students with 205 staff.

Acting Superintendent Robert Mahon said the school district embarked on the process of crafting this budget working toward a zero increase on the tax levy.

“When we started this process the parameters were to take into consideration a no tax levy increase, and with declining enrollment, we came in to this trying to hit a number,” Mahon said. “Obviously the building principals didn’t recommend staff cuts, but we had a number of conversations along the way to address staff reductions. Enrollment was a major factor in this.”

Among the cuts: the high school industrial arts program, a retired elementary school nurse, a high school custodian, a high school physical education staff member, and a high school guidance counselor.

“They are not in the budget, those positions will not be in existence come September… but they are open to be reconsidered through alternate revenue,” Mahon said.

Public questions on the budget included questions about the tentative nature of the budget, extracurricular and bilingual spending, and class size.

Shelton said the budget process remained tentative but that the budget as presented is complete.

“The school budget will be adopted as is, but the school budget changes,” Shelton said. “Could something happen between now and September to change that? Something could happen between now and tomorrow.”

“We’re adopting the number tonight but the allocations can change,” said Board President Michelle LaSalla.