School working on budget

[news]

Awaiting state tax information

School officials are waiting for word from the state.

Cranbury School Business Administrator Carolyn Eversole said the administration is hoping to present a 2007 budget to the school board at an 8 p.m. public meeting Feb. 20. However, the plan won't be finalized until the district knows how much state aid it will receive and what a proposed 4 percent cap on the total amount to be raised for taxes could mean for the district, she said.

"Basically, we're waiting for the rules of the game," she said.
Ms. Eversole later said, "The biggest problem we have is, what do they really mean by 4 percent. It's very hard to build a budget when you don't know what amounts you're allowed and in what perimeters."

The current $14.8 million budget increased the tax rate by 7.04 cents, from $2.182 per $100 of assessed valuation to $2.252. Under that rate, the owner of a house assessed at the township average of $225,000 is paying $5,067 in school taxes, a $158 increase from the previous year.

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