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Published by the Gannett State Bureau 1/25/05
Bill to loosen school budgets altered
Published by the Gannett State Bureau 1/25/04
By JONATHAN TAMARI
GANNETT STATE BUREAU
The bill, a compromise measure to ease some of the spending caps imposed last June, was scheduled for a vote but will now be held until the next Assembly session, scheduled for Feb. 24. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate with bipartisan support but without the special education amendment, according to an education lobbyist.
School groups opposed the spending limits, which were implemented as part of then--Gov. James E. McGreevey's "FAIR Plan" to reduce property taxes.
New Jersey schools spent a total of $20 billion last year, according to figures released Monday by the state Department of Community Affairs. Statewide, school levies accounted for $10.2 billion in property taxes last year, or 55 percent of all local taxes.
Assemblyman Joseph P. Cryan, D-Union, a sponsor of the bill to loosen the caps, said some spending growth is out of local districts' control. Special education in particular can be very costly when new students arrive with special needs, he said.
"They are realistically out of a districts' hands," Cryan said. "In smaller districts in particular it creates quite a hardship."
Assemblyman Louis D. Greenwald, D-Camden, another sponsor, said districts with good education programs attract special education students, leading to higher costs they can't avoid.
Their bill, with the amendment adopted Monday, would let districts increase spending when new special education students enroll, Greenwald said. The caps would then apply to the following budget.
The bill would also:
-- Exempt from the caps budget increases tied to utilities, liability and workers' compensation and domestic security.
-- Allow districts to temporarily shift courtesy busing costs outside the spending limits.
-- Let schools appeal for added administrative spending under certain circumstances.
-- Permit some budget transfers that had been barred.
-- Allow school districts to carry a 3 percent surplus, starting in 2006-2007.
Sens. Thomas H. Kean Jr., R-Union and Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, introduced the Senate version of the bill yesterday, but their measure did not include the special education provisions, said Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, which represents 120 suburban districts.
Strickland supported the allowances for special education costs, but she worried that the amendment might delay final passage of the bill. Schools begin discussing budgets in early March, she said.
"If the bills merged and include (the special education amendment), it would be the best we can get," Strickland said. "We hope the Senate in particular keeps the time lines right up front on their radar screen and moves this along at a good speed."
Strickland compared the schools' fights against the caps to "water torture."
"It's going to be a headache all the way," Strickland said. She added, "If it doesn't pass, I think the Legislature will have the larger migraine."
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Published on January 25, 2005
