Regional Budget Includes $1.2 Million in Savings over Next Decade
The River Dell Board of Education's $30 million budget for the 2013-14 school year will begin an 11-year process to save taxpayers $1.2 million
Over the next 11 years, River Edge and Oradell taxpayers will see approximately $1.2 million in savings through the Regional School Budget.
The district introduced its $30 million budget for 2013-14 on Monday night and revealed that by refinancing the remaining debt service from the 2003 referendum, taxpayers will see significant savings in the years to come.
"The positive savings that will accrue over time due to the refinancing is pretty substantial," Superintendent Patrick Fletcher said. "Our debt service has gone down $50,000 for the 2013-14 school year and by 2014-15 it will be down $100,000."
The budget, which calls for a $28,920,714 tax levy, includes paying off $1.5 million in debt service while allowing for the addition of two new teachers. Specific details about the new teaching staff members will not be finalized until the district determines which grade levels and subjects have the greatest need.
River Dell was awarded $632,193 in state aid last week, but Board Administrator Thomas Bonfiglio stated that the district has to return almost $92,000 back to Trenton as a contribution to the Schools Development Authority's (SDA) funding. For the current 2012-13 school budget, River Dell was mandated to return $60,287 in state aid for the SDA.
"The net cash to River Dell is $529,235 in state aid," Bonfiglio said. "And to add insult to injury, that $92,000 we have to give back is included in the 2% levy cap. We will be using $375,000 from surplus to offset taxes."
Under the $30 million budget, the average Oradell homeowner assessed at $531,000 would see a $276 increase to their tax bill while the average River Edge homeowner of a $436,000 home could expect a $3 increase.
However, as both borough's performed reassessments this past year, the exact increase for taxpayers in each town will not be finalized until the district holds a public hearing on the budget.
The public hearing of the 2013-14 budget is scheduled for March 21, 7pm at the high school.
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In This article
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River Dell Regional School District
230 Woodland Ave, River Edge, NJ -
River Dell High School
55 Pyle St, Oradell, NJ -
MICHAEL R. HOOCK
9:13 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
So you hired 2 new teachers and you don't know where they'll be used. How did you justify that?
Eamon Harbord
9:15 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Michael,
That's actually normal. The school will budget to hire additional teachers but will wait to see where the exact need is - whether it's phys ed or math or english - until the students complete registering for next year's classes along with what the final enrollment #'s will be for both the MS and HS
Teresa Michel
1:56 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
what kind of math is this, because I don't see where the "taxpayer will see significant savings". Isn't the district taking the funds that would have been paid on the loan and reallocating to another line in their budget? That doesn't result in any savings to the taxpayer. If the avg Oradell homeowner (on $531K home) expects an increase of $276, isn't that an increase of 5.2%? I thought there was a 2% cap?
Eamon Harbord
1:57 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Teresa,
The 2% cap relates to the overall tax levy which can only be increased by 2% each year. The cap has no real affect on how much an Oradell or River Edge homeowner will pay as their portion to the levy. And the $276 may change later this month once the new reassessment is finalized