School Budget Faces Opposition in Wildwood

WILDWOOD — Facing a slight tax hike, a number of local residents voiced dissent at a hearing on the school district budget, noting that in the current difficult financial times, even a slight increase is too high.
On March 31, Wildwood Board of Education approved a $19.5 million 2010-11 district budget that would ask local taxpayers to
pay $9.7 million of it.
That tax levy represents a 2.6-cent increase in the tax rate from 51 cents in the 2009-10 fiscal year to 53.6 cents this year. In other words, property owners will contribute $536 per $100,000 of assessed value — $26 more than last year.
Some local taxpayers weren’t satisfied.
“City Commission is working hard to reduce tax rate by double digits,” said John Roat, of Roberts Avenue. “Even this 2 percent increase may not sit well with city residents.”
Roat referenced the governing body’s pledge to reduce the local tax rate from $1.11 to 99 cents through some drastic moves including layoffs, reorganization of government and privatization of city services.
“Taxpayers in Wildwood have been going through a terrible ordeal for a long time with the highest taxes of the 16 municipalities in Cape May County,” Kathleen Mills, of 26th Avenue, told the Herald. “People have made great sacrifices.
Some have lost their homes; some are losing their homes. I think the district should be more aggressive in cutting the budget and show taxpayers some compassion.”
Wildwood resident Mary Kane, however, said she was pleased overall with the school and its programs. She told the board they did a “great job with the budget.”
“After not raising the budget for three years, 2 percent isn’t bad with the current situation at the state level,” she said.
“We are not asking for a penny more in this budget than we need for the academic programs our children deserve,” Superintendent Dennis Anderson said in a previous release.
District officials noted that the increase is tied directly to a loss of nearly $900,000 in state aid, which is part of Gov. Chris Christie’s plan to reduce the state budget.
“The board is absolutely aware of the economic situation in the city and throughout the state,” Board Administrator Greg Rohrman said, noting that the current budget is forcing it to do some “unpleasant” things.
He said there would be a reduction of 10 employees, both teachers and support staff, some through attrition and others through layoffs.
There are also some planned cuts to school sponsored athletics, losing some assistant coaches, cutting some games as well as other cuts, he added. Athletics are costing the district $420,914 for the 2009-10 school year and that figure has been reduced to $349,640 in this budget — a difference of over $71,000.
In addition, Rohrman said that the district was utilizing a substantial amount of its maintenance and reserve funds to help cushion the impact to taxpayers.
R. Todd Kieninger, board president, noted that Rohrman and Anderson showed strong leadership by forgoing pay raises this year in awareness of the district’s difficult budget situation.
Some residents likely hoped other district employees would follow their lead.
Commissioner Al Brannen, who was in attendance at the budget hearing, noted that he was disappointed with the local teachers’ union (Wildwood Education Association) because they “wouldn’t consider giving something back for the children and the taxpayers,” in the form of concessions.
Both the teachers’ and administrators’ unions were asked to consider raise freezes. Both declined, according to Rohrman.
Mills told the Herald she understood that half of the teachers were willing to make concessions, but the union and the other half of the teachers refused to budge.
Union President Carol Ann McDonald said the teachers are working under an agreement reached through collective bargaining. That contract is good for the next few years.
“It’s a tough feeling to be targeted like this,” McDonald told the Herald. “I don’t like the disconnect between the school and the taxpayers.”
McDonald said many educators are local taxpayers too and know how the residents feel. She wanted readers to know that it wasn’t strictly a financial matter for Wildwood teachers.
“Wildwood teachers are a diligent, careful, responsive and tireless group of people who love the children in our schools,” she said. “We didn’t get into education for the money.”
She argued that teachers had made concessions during the bargaining process including making some contributions to their medical benefits.
The school budget faced obstacles other than employee unions.
“There will be no program or instruction cuts,” Rohrman said. “As a comprehensive high school, we are required to offer some services. They’re not discretionary, they’re state mandated.”
Some of the mandated programs include: education for 4-year olds; full-day kindergarten; teachers’ aides for special needs students; bilingual and English as second language classes; free and low-cost breakfast and lunch programs; state testing; tuition and transportation to out-of-district schools (Technical, Special Services, DHS, etc.); and student-aged prisoners incarcerated in state prison facilities.
Rohrman said many of these mandated programs are tied to Wildwood’s low income and multicultural population.
Rohrman also noted that they are largely “unfunded” mandates with a trend over the last several years shifting away from federal and state funding, and placing the burden on local taxpayers. They cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.
Mills said it was “outrageous” that taxpayers were forced to pay for these “absurd” programs. She said school administrators should aggressively fight the state when they cut funding for mandated programs.
“We should only be expected to pay for the cost of the students’ basic educations,” she said. “A lot of these meals, sports and after school activities are nothing but babysitting services paid for by local taxpayers.”
Brannen said he recognized the importance of sports in school, but suggested that parents and volunteers should raise money for the different teams to pull the burden from the district and its taxpayers.
On the other hand, Board member Ernie Troiano III noted that the lunch and breakfast programs, in particular, are very important because they’re the only meals some of the pupils eat all day.
He said the board has a dual responsibility — not only to the taxpayers but also to the students.
In the end, the school board passed the budget 5-1 with three abstentions. Only Brandy DeMarzo, wife of Mayor Gary DeMarzo, voted “no.”
The district’s budget will go before voters in the April 20 school district election. If defeated, City Commission reviews the budget and can make additional cuts as it sees fit.