Sparta school budget proposal includes $258 tax hike. Here's why costs are rising again
The Sparta Board of Education voted 6-3 to approve a preliminary budget that would raise taxes by $258 for the average homeowner but also keep educational programs intact despite rising costs, officials said.
Here's a look at the proposal:
School taxes, spending would rise
The tentative budget includes $70.8 million raised through taxes, a 5.8% jump over last year. It would raise taxes by $257.93 per year for a home at the township's average assessed value of $371,300, Superintendent Matt Beck said in a presentation at Thursday's board meeting at the Mohawk Avenue School.
That tax hike would come on top of the $205 increase for the average property owner approved last year.
The final budget for the 2023-24 school year is due to be presented and voted upon at the board's April 27 meeting, pending approval from the Sussex County executive schools superintendent.
Why the increase? Costs swell while COVID relief ends
Beck said this year's budget process presented more challenges than he has faced in years past, due in large part to "the rise in expenses that everybody's seeing everywhere." Sparta dealt with increases in areas such as transportation and staff contracts, along with the loss of grants now that emergency COVID funding from the federal government is running out.
"These are the challenges that we faced when we went to create the budget: how do we maintain programming, maintain as much staffing as we can to maintain that programming, yet make up for these losses or for these raises?" Beck said.
No school programs cut
Beck said the district employed a "zero-based budgeting" process, which requires administrators to list all expenses and justify their inclusion rather than simply building atop the previous year's budget. The approach was designed "to make sure that we are putting everything in the budget that is absolutely necessary - no more, no less," Beck said.
The budget does not eliminate any programs despite the increase in district costs, the superintendent said. Any personnel reductions were the result of administrative restructuring or not filling roles after faculty retirements, he added.
The resulting 5.8% increase in proposed spending would be higher than in recent years, but a rise in property values in Sparta allowed the district to offset much of that, Beck said. Sparta also expects its state aid rise by 14%, based on Gov. Phil Murphy's latest proposal. It would be the fourth-largest jump in Sussex County, a reversal of recent trends in which local districts have seen big cuts in state aid.
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Who voted 'no' on the budget
Christina Keiling, Walter Knapp and LeeAnne Pitzer voted against the budget. Following Beck's presentation, Knapp expressed concern about the "gap" between some initially projected costs and the amounts designated in the current budget.
Sparta Business Administrator Joanne Black said "unanticipated items" like a bus driver shortage and the placement of some students in out-of-district programs contributed to higher than expected transportation expenses. The cost of health benefits also increased because this was the district's first year in a new, self-insured program.
"There was a different amount budgeted in the current year lines, and it's ending up slightly running more than that for us as a district," Black said.
Kyle Morel is a local reporter covering Morris and Sussex counties.
Email: kmorel@njherald.com; Twitter: @KMorelNJH
This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Sparta NJ school budget proposes $258 tax increase, no program cuts
