Ridgewood School Budget Now Up to Voters

The Ridgewood Board of Education approved the proposed 2013-2014 budget Wednesday night, leaving the final decision in the hands of voters on April 16.

Rise in taxes, budget process

According to the proposed budget, school taxes for the average homeowner with property valued at $687,000 would increase $203. The $91.28 million budget represents a 2 percent increase over the 2012-2013 school year, the statutory maximum. No programming cuts or layoffs are included in the proposal.

Should the public vote down the budget, the village council would set a new tax levy.

Although the overall budget is down over last year slightly, special education costs are up dramatically. They now comprise about 25 percent of the budget, administrators said. Further, enrollment is increasing, up more than 350 kids in a decade.

"That's the equivalent of an entire school," said trustee Vince Loncto.

On the plus side of the revenue equation, staff members are paying far more into their own health care costs. 

School officials , mostly using fund balance, salary breakage of staff, and fewer sections in kindergarten to keep cuts away from programs or staff.

The major capital project in the upcoming year will be the creation of a new high school library, mostly funded by the Ridgewood Learning Commons group.

Zero chance at zero tax increase?

Although they've been outvoted, trustees Jim Morgan and Christina Krauss have pressed colleagues and administrators to seriously consider how to find a zero percent tax increase. There's an impression from taxpayers, the pair said, that the school board goes to the maximum allowed tax increase every year.

Krauss and Morgan ultimately supported the proposed budget but said Wednesday that the administration could have been "more creative" and developed a budget at under 2 percent.

"I think we missed a real opportunity to address some of the fundamental problems this district faces," Morgan told colleagues. 

Those "fundamental problems" include not having a clear-cut plan to pay for rising, uncontrollable costs, he said. Special education costs are soaring, there are limited capital funds and fund balance can't be counted on to balance the budget every year.

Next year's budget has $500,000 of planned breakage to cover costs. Those funds are usually not applied to cover such budgetary costs, Morgan said. In addition, a $2 million healthcare provider change is a one-shot deal.

Where will the money come from in the future?, he wondered

Morgan said the zero percent initiative proposed was to see if redesigned educational programs could address such problems.

"I don't think we did the best job we could have for the parents and taxpayers of Ridgewood."

Board President Sheila Brogan called the budget process "rigorous" and said while there will be challenges, the board has "lived up to challenges in the past" and will do so again in the future.

She blamed the state for not paying its fair share on costs, and also said the value of homes in Ridgewood is directly tied to education. If education declines, property values will decline, she said.

"As a taxpayer, I know the burden of the property tax but also understand the value good schools have on maintaning the property value of my home and how much that value has increased in my 27 years living in Ridgewood."

High-achieving Ridgewood outsourced before it was cool

The district has outsourced virtually every service it can, according to Fishbein. So while Glen Rock is able to reach a second consecutive year at a zero percent tax increase largely due to outsourcing, Ridgewood implemented such changes years ago, decades in some cases.

Pointing to state DOE statistics, Fishbein says Ridgewood has one of the lowest costs per pupil numbers in the state, as well as some of the highest performance scores. Teacher and administrator per student ratios are also on the higher side, contributing to the efficiencies.

"Our numbers are quite favorable," the superintendent said. "We're fiscally efficient and we do have some very good outcomes. I think that's important to understand."

Voters head to the polls on April 16 to cast their ballots.