Evesham Township School District may seek public referendum in November
As it stands, the Evesham Township School District will have to go to voters with a public referendum this November to get approval for the money necessary to fully fund the district’s tentative 2016–2017 school year budget.
At a series of community meetings on Feb. 29 and March 1, Superintendent John Scavelli Jr. revealed the latest figures regarding the district’s tentative budget, currently at $74.12 million.
Scavelli noted there was a $685,000 difference between the district’s tentative $74.12 million budget and the $73.43 million the district can already legally raise through taxes without special approval from voters.
In comments made to The Sun after the meetings, Scavelli said the entirety of the $685,000 would go toward expanding the shared service agreement between the municipality and the school district that provides police officers for all of Evesham’s schools.
However, according to statements released by the office of Mayor Randy Brown after the meetings, the district would only need to $200,000 to continue the current agreement into the 2016–2017 school year.
In response to those statements, Scavelli told The Sun that figure would not cover the expanded coverage the district is requesting.
Scavelli said he received the $685,754 figure for expanded coverage from the township in December, and at the time of the community meetings, he had not yet received a revised quotation.
As such, Scavelli said the district could not adjust the figure it presented to the public. However, Scavelli did reiterate a point he made at the meetings in which he said the district was continuing to engage in discussions with the township, and he believed the $685,000 figure would be lowered over time.
In the statements released by the mayor’s office, officials called the current arrangement “a great start” and encouraged the district to find money elsewhere in its budget and avoid a referendum on the matter.
“This should not be hard to do as $200,000 only represents less than two-tenths of 1 percent of the overall school district budget,” the statement read.
According to statements Scavelli made at the meetings, the district was already at its tax level cap level and cannot fit anything more into its tentative budget.
“This would have to be a separate proposal,” Scavelli said. “It’s possible that could change over time; we have a couple months yet before that budget gets finalized, but right now that’s the only place it could be.”
By “cap level,” Scavelli was referring to the fact that for the district to reach the $74.12 million in total apportions it currently seeks, it would be required to use all of its previously stored banked cap funds. Banked cap is the legal rule that allows school districts in New Jersey to “bank” the unused amount of tax levy funds a district could have raised in a previous year if it was under the state-mandated 2 percent annual tax levy increase limit.
Since the ETSD has been under the 2 percent tax levy increase limit for the past three years, which is the maximum amount of time districts can store banked cap, in the upcoming 2016–2017 budget, the ETSD can exceed the 2 percent tax levy increase limit.
The budget presented by Scavelli at the community meetings does just that by using the 2 percent max tax levy increase, a .36 percent health-care waiver tax levy increase offered by the state, and a 1.5 percent tax levy increase from bank cap, resulting in a total 3.86 percent tax levy increase.
In practical terms, this means Evesham homeowners with an average assessed home of $269,900 would see their K-8 school taxes increase $83 per year as the budget stands without the referendum, or about $100 should a referendum asking for $685,000 gain voter approval.
The specific budget expenditures Scavelli noted aside from the officer expansion included the lease purchase of a new telecommunications system and the purchase of new school buses. Scavelli said the district’s current telecommunications system dates to the 1990s, and since the district has been putting off the upgrade for several years, the situation is at the point where getting replacement parts has become too difficult.
Scavelli said by law schools can only use buses for 15 years, and Evesham is in the middle of a cycle where in a five-year period it must replace half its fleet with four or five buses each year.
In response to a member of the public who asked if there was anywhere the district could cut administratively, Scavelli noted the district already ranked “very favorably” in the state’s eyes with about 200 students and 20 professional staff members for every one administrative employee. Compared to 82 other districts in similar size and scope to Evesham throughout the state, Scavelli said Evesham had the 16th lowest administrative costs.
“It means that you’re putting money where it belongs,” Scavelli said. “It means you’re putting money more into the classroom as opposed to administrative.”
Scavelli also once again noted as he has at past meetings that about 82 percent of the district’s budget is going toward the salaries and benefits of employees, which was similar to other school districts as school districts are labor-intensive industries.
