Bloomingdale School Budget Includes Renovations

The voted unanimously to approve its $18,509,242 2012-13 budget on Thursday night, putting in place a budget that the board’s finance committee was able to knock $55,000 additional dollars off of before its approval.

Altogether, Business Administrator George Hagl acknowledged that, while the budget saw an additional $60,000 in fees added since the last presentation, approximately $115,000 was subtracted from other areas.

“There have been some changes made since the ,” Hagl said. “There was a proposal based on a committee meeting for possibly considering referendum items for building projects. It was suggested that there would be some auditing fees, engineering fees and advertising fees. We also had the resignation of an employee under a BEA contract. The committee had also requested that I remove the purchase of two school buses and make them into a lease purchase.”

The final result is a budget that amounts, after grants, to $18,509,242 for the 2012-13 school year, a tax increase on the average assessed Bloomingdale home of $104.98 and a tax levy increase of 2.13 percent.

Although the tax levy cap increase is, technically, above the state-imposed tax-levy cap of two percent, Hagl told Patch that waivers, such as those for debt service, allowed the district to pass the budget without voter approval.

Members of the board of education commended Hagl and the board’s finance committee on a budget that will allow the district to retain all of its current staff, as well as allow for repairs and renovations at all of the district’s schools, including roof section replacements and the removal of asbestos-containing materials in the floors of

“I’ve seen it firsthand with George at Samuel R. Donald School, and it’s much needed work,” said Board Member Michael Moeller. “The budget is passing at the 2-percent cap, no faculty is being laid off and the work is being done, so I’m very happy with the budget this year.”

With the budget now approved by the board, it will go back to the Passaic County Superintendent’s office for county approval before being submitted to the New Jersey Department of Education for final approval and processing.