2013-2014 Glen Rock School Budget Reduces Taxes

Taxpayers will pay less in school taxes in 2013-2014 while their children receive a more robust education, according to Glen Rock Business Administrator Michael Rinderknecht.

The school board on Thursday , which decreases the total school tax needs by $74,221, aided by a combination of more ratables with a decrease in the school tax rate.

Here's the number residents will care about: the average resident with a home valued at approximately $548,000 will pay $29 less than they pay for the current school budget.

The 2013-2014 budget calls for the same general fund tax levy in 2012-2013 and the year prior at $40,033,500. It's the second year Glen Rock has offered a 0 percent tax increase, but the first time the school budget has generated an overall net decrease to taxpayers.

To put it bluntly, what Glen Rock has done might be unheard of in New Jersey education.

"In my almost nine years, we've never had a reduction, and to be frank, in my entire career as a business administrator, I've never seen an overall reduction in the average property assessment," Rinderknecht said.

"While others are cutting, we are growing," added Fiscal Management Committee Chairman Carlo Cellla. "I can't promise zero [percent tax increase] next year but we're going to work on that."

School officials say the 2013-2014 budget is anything but a slice-and-dice maintenance budget.

Three new full-time faculty positions are appropriated for the upcoming school year, along with one full-time security guard for the middle school/high school.

There will also be a greater number of co-curricular offerings and further investments in infrastructure, according to administrators.

The district will start with a budgeted fund balance of $1.8 million, which will be reduced to $500,000 in July to pay for capital projects, largely the elementary school gymnasium air conditioning units.

Construction of what school officials called a "fiscally responsible" budget was made possible by difficult, controversial decisions made in recent years. The largest came in the form of outsourcing special education aides and night custodians.

Staff paying higher percentages of health care costs was also a boon, Rinderknecht said, while the controversial practice to "balance" elementary school enrollment also saves millions.

Plans are in the works to find further revenue streams in 2013-2014.

"We're not sitting idle," Cella said. "We're already talking about what we're going to do next year."

The district will continue to explore such ideas as taking in a select number of students from out of district, renting its facilities, applying for grant money, and establishing an education foundation.