No Complaints As Morris Plains School Board OKs Budget Adding $188/Year To Average Tax Bill

On Tuesday, March 22, the Morris Plains Board of Education held its required public hearing on the school budget, and the gathering was as friendly and drama-free as the board could have hoped.

The budget presentation sparked only two comments from the crowd of about thirty people. One was a request that the board keep arts programming in mind for future budgets. The other was the suggestion that the school board get out the word that tax increases in Morris Plains are primarily the result of lost ratables, not school board spending.

The community's relaxed response was likely influenced by the board's earlier announcement that it had crafted a budget that would cost the average Morris Plains homeowner just $188 more in taxes over a one-year period. Schools superintendent Dennis Mack and board secretary Alice Bresett reviewed those numbers on Tuesday, adding that, as long as the school budget is passed this year, no positions would be cut, programs would be maintained, courtesy busing would be unchanged and the district would be able to embark on a technology-upgrade program.

The tax levy proposed in the new budget ($13,645,244 ) represents a 2 percent increase over the 2010-2011 amount of $13,377,690. The proposed levy raises the tax rate from $.927 to $.969 per hundred dollars of assessed home value. The figure of approximately $188 per year per homeowner was arrived at using the average assessed value of a home in Morris Plains, which is $439,483.

Board president Dennis Reilly cautioned that residents should not be complacent about the budget. He and other board members called for the community to come out and vote in the school board/school budget election on April 27. Reilly also asked that attendees spread the word among their individual circles of friends and acquaintances.

"Talk to your friends at the bus stop and the ball field," said board member Lee Connor. "Get everyone out to vote."

The budget is posted on the school district web site.