By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Cherry Hill Sun
Board of Education members reached their stated goal last week and pledged a flat school tax levy for the 2009–10 school district budget, and members urged residents to throw their support behind the document.
The budget will feature a tax rate of $3.19 per every $100 of assessed property value. According to Business Administrator Jim Devereaux, an average assessed home of $140,000 will pay about $4,468 in school taxes next year — an increase of $8 from last year’s tax bill. Last year’s tax rate was $3.13.
Sharon Giaccio, board president, congratulated the district for reaching its flat tax levy goal. It was a difficult process, she said, but the board was able to reach its stated goal during a challenging economic time.
“We challenged administrators to come up with a solid budget during challenging times,” she said. “We were able to achieve a flat tax with a level of reduction we hope will be acceptable to the residents of Cherry Hill.”
But the flat tax levy came with several sacrifices. There were 63.2 full-time equivalent employees eliminated from the district for the next school year, for a total budget savings of more than $3.8 million.
See this week’s print edition of The Sun for the full story.
