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WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP
120 VILLAGE GREEN DRIVE
WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY 08085
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Tuesday, May 11th, The Woolwich Township Committee and the Council of the Borough of Swedesboro along with representatives of the Swedesboro/Woolwich School District will conduct a meeting and public forum to discuss the school district’s 2010-2011 School District Budget which was defeated at the April 20th polls.
State Statute requires the municipal governing bodies to review defeated school budgets for areas in which they feel reductions can be made. The governing bodies can either certify the amount proposed on the ballot, or a reduced amount, which cannot be less than a required local share. The governing body’s decision must be in the form of a resolution and submitted to the Department of Education no later than May 19th.
“We have been through the defeated school budget process before,” said Woolwich Mayor Joe Chila, “but never the challenge we are faced with this year due to the drastic cuts to state aid.”
The Swedesboro-Woolwich District suffered a revenue loss of over $1.7 million. The budget, if passed as presented, would have meant a $0.299 increase in school taxes within the Borough of Swedesboro, and $0.277 in Woolwich. Based upon average assessments, Swedesboro residents were looking at a $287.00 increase in taxes and an increase of $502.00 for Woolwich residents.
“Despite the loss in state funding, we simply cannot in all good consciousness ask our residents to bear this additional burden without exploring every possible alternative to reduce the budget as proposed,” Chila stated. Swedesboro Mayor Thomas Fromm agreed, saying, “With the economic situation we are in, residents of the Borough are hard pressed to come up with any additional taxes.” Both Mayor’s appreciate that the District has one of the lowest per pupil operating costs in the state, and also agree that the State holds responsibility for the unfortunate situation which they have been placed in. “This is not about spending,” Chila said. “This is about the gross unfairness of the loss of funding and the task of finding a middle ground that the taxpayers are able to shoulder, while being able to maintain the quality of our children’s education.”
Both Mayor’s and their respective school liaison committee/council representatives have conducted numerous meetings over the past few weeks to pour through the budget. Throughout the budget examination process, one thing became clear. Even if school staff agreed to a salary freeze, the budget would still have a 1.6 million shortfall. Yet, the respective Governing Body’s agree that the taxpayers should be given the chance to provide further input before a final decision is reached.
The meeting will be held at the Governor Charles Stratton School, 15 Fredrick Blvd., beginning at 7:00 p.m.
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