Another tuition rise for districts Some in Phillipsburg feel 2 percent hike doesn't go far enough. Tuesday, February 12, 2008 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | Districts that send students to Phillipsburg High School will see a 2 percent tuition increase next school year, but one board member said he'd like to see them pay more. Each district will pay $11,025 to send students to the high school, according to the rate board members approved Monday night. The sending districts will pay just under $10.6 million in combined tuition toward the district's budget, which last year totaled about $61 million. Phillipsburg School Board member Bernie Brotzman said that if the school tax levy increases by 4 percent or more, he thinks sending districts' tuition should increase 4 percent. "I just think it's fair," Brotzman said. District officials and board members need to close a projected $10 million shortfall. The board's budget and finance committee has been meeting to hash out the spending plan; the budget proposal has not yet come before the full board. The state doesn't permit districts to increase the tax levy more than 4 percent over the previous year, but they can apply for several exemptions to bypass that cap. They are discussing that possibility, board President Paul Rummerfield said. Phillipsburg has to estimate the cost of educating sending districts' high school students and must adjust that estimate every three years. The district isn't permitted to factor state aid figures into that estimate and must also adjust for any previous overcharges. That has meant considerable rebates for the sending districts. After those modifications, tuition could end up between $7,000 and $8,000 rather than $11,025, Business Administrator Bill Poch said. A tuition increase might mean more money to the district for the coming budget season, but it likely wouldn't be a long-term fix. It could just mean bigger rebates down the road, Poch said. Until recent years, the district typically increased tuition by 3 percent. It was reduced to lessen the impact of the rebates. School board member Frank Kish, who represents Lopatcong Township, said taxpayers in his township are already feeling a financial squeeze. Senior citizens are hit with taxes they can't afford and many are moving, he said. He also said Lopatcong has been interested in helping carry the financial burden. Rummerfield said he thinks it's time to start taking a regional approach to funding, especially in light of the "difficult budget." The district's Abbott status, a designation given to Phillipsburg and 30 other needy districts in the state, is in flux under a new state funding formula. He pointed out that about $120,000 for athletic fields at the new high school site came from Phillipsburg's funds. Transportation costs for honors algebra students at the middle school level also are funded by Phillipsburg, he said. "(We need to) start thinking more globally," he said. Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.