New Schools Chief: Tax Cap May Mean Tough Choices

According to Montville Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Fried, the 2 percent cap on year-to-year tax increases signed by Gov. Christie Tuesday could force the board of education to make some tough decisions.

"The district is going to potentially have to make reductions in important areas going forward," he said. "I certainly won't hurt instructional programs for the kids."

 Fried began his tenure as district superintendent on July 1, 13 days before Christie signed off on the cap — so Fried is not yet sure where money could be rearranged within the budget.

"My arrival was not very long ago," he said. "It's hard to say exactly what the effect will be without going through the budget line by line and leaning where we could put our heads together and collaborate to make some changes."

News of the cap comes on the heels of a difficult budget year for the district, which saw its proposed budget cut by $984,000 by township committee resolution on May 17, according to the town website. That action was taken after voters shot down the school board's initial proposal.

Fried and board of education members stated during the board's meeting Tuesday night that they were focused on addressing issue of the coming year's budget early.

"The board talked about getting a quick jump on budget conservation this year,"  Fried said. "My perspective is to start early, be very transparent with the community, be as inclusive as possible and let people understand where we are and what kind of challenges we're facing, show people where the dollars are going and look for community support in passing a budget."

The cap law makes exceptions for costs that school boards cannot always control directly, including employee pensions and health care costs. Fried said these exceptions are vital.

"Those two are some of the things that hit districts very hard," he said. "Those costs can escalate quickly, based oftentimes on prior-year events and averages, so even when economies get better, sometimes health and pension costs can continue to go up."

Fried expressed his commitment to getting the school district budget in line with the new bill.

"If we have to bring it in at a 2 percent cap, then that's what we'll bring it in at," he said.