Ridgewood school board approves budget
May 1, 2014 Â Â Last updated: Thursday, May 1, 2014, 4:20 PM
By Laura Herzog
Staff Writer
The Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) unanimously approved the 2014-2015 school budget on Monday, but not without caution.
Even as they approved the budget, which includes a 1.908 percent increase in school taxes, several board members raised concerns about future challenges. These cautionary messages included, most of all, an emphasis on growing education costs, some associated with special education and unfunded state mandates.
The total budget is $99,405,376, with a tax levy of $86,223,037. The owner of an average village home, assessed at $688,358, will see a school tax increase of $172.08.
BOE Vice President Vince Loncto led his comments by heaping praise on the district for several measures undertaken to improve educational quality and save on costs, including outsourced contracts and energy efficiency initiatives. But he concluded with an air of gravity, noting that “we’ll need to find ways to offset our growing expenses.”
Sharing Loncto’s concern, trustee Jim Morgan criticized the board for its budget-making process – and suggested it could do more to reduce the tax burden from the school budget, while maintaining services.
“The budget accomplishes many admirable things,” Morgan said, pointing to capital improvements, like upcoming renovations to the high school library, and a more robust push for technology in schools. But the trustee said the budget was crafted with a “status quo approach” without “critical analysis,” especially considering that a new teachers’ contact will need to be negotiated.
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