Manasquan Schools' Surplus Draws Criticism

What some would consider a windfall for the the local school district drew the ire of some Manasquan residents during a special action meeting of the Manasquan Board of Education on Tuesday evening.

The topic of discussion was what should be done with more than $1 million in surplus the Manasquan school system has left from its 2010-11 budget and further, how the district ended up with such a surplus in the first place.

The meeting was called by board President Christine Muly to disclose budget information brought up by Superintendent Geraldine Margin during a closed session at the body's last meeting earlier this month. According to the Open Public Meetings Act, all discussion of budgets must be done publicly.

The surplus total, $1,104,611 unspent, represents approximately 5 percent of the district's total operating budget for the current school year, which ends in six weeks.

School business Administrator Margaret Hom explained that a number of unforeseen savings resulted in the surplus.  Funding planned for special education and vocational tuition, extraordinary services, administration raises, student transportation, employee benefits, instruction and clubs and sports, all came in significantly lower than planned for during the budget process last spring, resulting in the surplus. 

According to state law, surplus funds can be transferred into a number of reserve accounts, each with specific caveats on how it may be spent. School districts have between June 1 and June 30 each year to decide on how to allocate their surplus into reserves.

Monmouth County Executive School Business Administrator Joseph Passiment attended the meeting to explain the different ways that the school may allocate its surplus, though he offered no opinion on how he felt Manasquan should proceed.

"This is common place," Passiment said of the surplus, noting that changes in appropriation and revenue streams often take place after a budget has been finalized.

While school administration sees the surplus as a way to protect the school in the event of an emergency and to pad itself against possible changes in state aid, it was a hard pill to swallow for taxpayers in attendance, who claim they knew nothing about the surplus when they took to the polls and approved a $229,426 tax increase in the district's proposed 2011-2012 budget last month.

"Though the tax relief could be nice in one year, it could cripple us in the next," Hom said.

School administrators fear that, with the state mandated 2 percent tax levy cap, changes in costs or revenues, emergency projects or other needed expenditures could necessitate cuts in programming or staffing in the future. They hope that allocating surplus into reserves may provide a cushion in such an instance.

Michele LaSala, who was elected to the board during the April 27 school elections, was one of the most vocal in her disapproval of the handling of the budget surplus.

"I did not hear that we are sitting on a million dollar surplus," LaSala said during the meeting. "I think that's deceitful."

"We withheld no information," Margin said. "It was there."

Hom explained that the balance of current funds had been made available to board members in the secretary's report each month since January.

Board member Jim Smith, who admitted to not having thoroughly read the reports, agreed with LaSala.

"Had I know I would not have voted yes here or in the voting booth," Smith said.

"Perhaps maybe some thought should have been given to perception," North Potter Avenue resident Louis Cocozza said during the public portion. "People are hurting."

"So you had the magnitude of this surplus before the election?" Parker Avenue resident Kristine Shea, who also ran for the board this year, asked. "It's hard to believe that this information wasn't given to the taxpayer."

Lee Weisert, a Manasquan resident and a teacher at Manasquan High School offered a different perspective.

"There's no beef in this budget," Weisert said of the school's proposed spending plan for 2011-12. "Education is being held monetarily hostage."

"You can put that money aside and save the taxpayers money in the future," he added.

Though not done in school budgeting, running a surplus from year to year is often used to protect the tax rate in municipal budgets. The recently approved budget by the Manasquan Mayor and Council contains a projected surplus of $1,914,720.10 for the 2011 fiscal year.