S.B. council begins review of school budget BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer SOUTH BRUNSWICK - The Township Council met on April 29 to discuss changes to the school budget, which was recently defeated by a vote of 1,244 to 1,163. The council members all relayed questions and comments that they had to Township Manager Matthew Watkins, who will be meeting with board members and school administrators this week. All the members expressed regret that they were forced to take on the task of reworking such a large school budget over such a short period of time. "We are pretty much in agreement that this is a precarious task that is placed upon us," Councilman Joseph Camarota said. However, they understood that this is what they are required to do, by law. "I've challenged myself to understand the budget as well as possible before we make a decision," said Councilman Charles Carley. There were a couple of comments made from the public before any discussion was held. John O'Sullivan, ofMonmouth Junction, who is a candidate in the upcoming Republican primary, was the first to comment. "From talking to people around town, the comment that was said the most was, 'They just got $4 million from the state and they want more,'" O'Sullivan said. "The school board has to go on a diet. They know where to cut. The council will help them with some tough love to get them motivated to improve their fiscal health, which keeps taxpayers happy." Martin Abschutz, president of the Board of Education, responded to O' Sullivan's comments. "The reason we received state aid is because we run a very fiscally sound operation," he said. "We did put all that $4 million back towards taxpayer relief." "The school has been shorted for years," Councilman Chris Killmurray said. "I give them credit for going back and working with the state to get those funds." Carley tried to use his experience with the town's budgets in looking at the school budget. "Over the last four years, when someone retires, we don't replace that position," he said. "That's one of the things I'd like you to focus on." Killmurray's reaction was similar. He wanted to know if the schools absolutely needed all the positions that were filled. "We all have things in the like-to-have category, but there's things that are in the have-to-have," he said. "Maybe you don't need as many people as you're asking for." Carley also wanted to see if it was possible to reduce the surplus without having any detrimental effects to this year's or next year's budget. Camarota wanted to know what the school board was doing to create additional revenue. He wanted to know if they ever leased out the second floor of their offices on Blackhorse Lane. Deputy Mayor Carol Barrett introduced the idea of shared services. "In snow removal and in summer help," she said, "This is where maybe we can help each other out." There were also various questions about where certain money was coming from and about some discrepancies in the budget. Capital projects were also brought up as a possible way to reduce the budget. Abschutz said that none of the questions that were asked were very surprising. "The Board of Education budget is very complex, as they noted," he said. "I appreciate the mayor and the council identifying a clear process for their review. I also appreciated Councilman Camarota pointing out that the total proposed 2008-2009 tax levy was $680,000 less than the approved 2007-2008 tax levy." Watkins said that he would report back to the council as soon as he got the answers they desired. The township has until May 19 to set the tax levy. Watkins said he expects the council to make a decision on May 13.