Warren schools gear up for vote State aid played key role in shaping budgets Sunday, April 06, 2008 • BY MIKE FRASSINELLI • Star-Ledger Staff Seeing the reactions of school superintendents in Blairstown and Phillipsburg in the days leading up to next Tuesday's budget vote is like looking at a comedy/tragedy theater mask. In northern Warren County, Blairstown Elementary Superintendent Mike Feeney is wearing the happy mask, having been able to put part of a 20 percent state aid increase toward the hiring of a special education teacher. In the southern part of the county, Phillipsburg School District Business Administrator Bill Poch is donning the sad mask, looking at a budget shortfall that he said could lead to the elimination of 60 staff positions in the county's only special-needs Abbott district. The fingerprints of the state education department are all over the proposed budget plans of Warren County school districts, set to be decided by voters during the April 15 school elections. Warren County schools received an average 7.3 percent state aid increase -- one of the top rates in the state -- to ease the burden on taxpayers. In the case of districts like Blairstown, it was a reward for years of doing more with less money. Blairstown has a lower-than-average per pupil cost, a prevalence of special education programs and all-day kindergarten. "Without this 20 percent (state increase), we definitely would have to cut staff to balance our budget," Feeney said. Instead, the K-6 district is able to add a special education teacher and offset some of the increased costs for out-out-district placement for up to two special-needs students. The district is presenting a budget with a minimal tax increase -- $30 on a $300,000 home. Tax bills are set to go down in Allamuchy, Hardwick, Oxford and Washington townships, and the proposed tax levies are set to drop in eight Warren County school districts. Last year, voters in the county approved all but one of their school budgets -- following a year in which 10 of Warren's 23 school budgets were defeated. Phillipsburg, the only district where the school budget failed last year, is presenting a 2008-09 budget this month that calls for a $135 tax increase on a $150,000 home. A district that has a record 31 classroom trailers to ease overcrowding, Phillipsburg saw only a 2 percent state aid increase for the 2008-09 budget. To close a budget gap, school officials have proposed eliminating five dozen staff positions and cutting supplies, textbooks and mainstay activities such as seventh- and eighth-grade sports. When the state gave Phillipsburg a 3 percent increase the year before, district officials tapped into $2.2 million of the district's $2.4 million surplus to balance the budget. This year, there is no surplus to tap into. "Right off the bat, we were $2.2 million short," Poch said. "We knew we were in bad condition when we got our state aid," he added. In North Warren Regional School District, voters in a referendum can decide whether to approve funding for a boiler replacement project. The state would chip in 40 percent of the $656,000 project cost. The annual tax impact would range from $16 to $20 per household in the next budget in 2009-10. District officials want to replace 38-year-old boilers that they say have had continuous problems and are in danger of permanent failure. School board President Bruce Hanelt noted that efficient new boilers would save up to 15,000 gallons a year in fuel usage. Mike Frassinelli may be reached at mfrassinelli@starledger.com or (908) 475-1218. © 2008 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.