A zero percent tax increase may or may not be the aim of the Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) for next year.
TUESDAY JULY 24, 2012, 10:49 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A zero percent tax increase may or may not be the aim of the Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) for next year. It’s all in the wording the BOE adopts for its 2013-2014 goals.
At last Monday’s public meeting, BOE members expressed uncertainty about how they wanted to phrase their new goals: Committing to a zero percent tax increase or focusing on the services students would need without setting a specific financial goal. The consensus was they all want to provide a quality education to students.
BOE member Jim Morgan, however, said a zero percent tax increase is feasible for a school board that has a $90 million budget to work with. It’s better to start thinking with a frugal mindset, he argued during the meeting.
“It’s got to be started now before the budget really starts to be looked at for the 2013-2014 school year,” he said. Delivering a quality education “within the budget” was possible, he said, because there are “other ways of delivering goods and services” that should be considered.