Toms River Schools Holding Citizens Budget Hearing Wednesday

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Regional School District will present its tentative 2021-22 school budget Wednesday night during its Citizens Budget Advisory Meeting.

The meeting is set for 6 p.m. in the cafeteria at Toms River High School South. Those attending the meeting in person should park in the parking lot off Hooper Avenue and enter through Door 12.

For those who cannot attend in person, the district will live stream the meeting; the link will be posted on the district's website before the meeting.

The school board approved submission of the tentative budget to the Ocean County executive superintendent at its March 17 meeting, a necessary step in the budget process. But board members expressed dismay with the potential staff cuts in the tentative budget.

Business Administrator William Doering said the tentative budget, with a property tax levy of $175,724,465, reflects the $8.1 million cut in state aid under S2, and the required 2 percent increase in the levy that also is part of S2.

Doering said the district is trying through every avenue possible to get the $8.1 million restored.

The 2 percent increase in the tax levy translates to much smaller increases in Toms River and Beachwood, of six-tenths of a percent, while South Toms River will see an increase of 1.5 percent and Pine Beach will have a 2.7 percent increase. The tax increases below 2 percent in Toms River, Beachwood and South Toms River are due to an increase in ratables, Doering said. A decrease in the district's debt service tax levy due to improved interest earnings also lowered the overall tax increases, he said.

The ongoing cuts under S2 and the restrictions placed on school districts that limit tax increases to 2 percent of the property tax levy leave the Toms River schools with no options but cuts.

The $8.1 million aid cut far exceeds what Toms River can raise under the 2 percent property tax levy cap, and the cut, part of the ongoing reduction in aid, is because Toms River Regional Schools property owners are not paying the local fair share of the property tax burden for the schools.

The ongoing cuts drive the Toms River schools further "under adequacy," which is the amount of money per pupil that the state Department of Education says is needed to provide a thorough and efficient education.

State lawmakers have refused to remove the cap on the property tax levy for districts such as Toms River, leaving the district with no option but to make cuts.

The tentative budget also reflects a multimillion-dollar decrease in costs for benefits because of a reduction in health insurance claims to the district, Doering said.

The district hopes that most of the staff cuts will be absorbed through attrition, though he said that would be difficult to achieve. No co-curricular programs are being cut, he said.

The final public hearing and school board vote on the budget is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on April 28, to meet the early May deadline for final budget submission to the state Department of Education.

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