Best Case Scenario: School Taxes Could Drop in Town, Stay Flat in Twp.

At a time when comparable school districts throughout Morris County have borrowed large amounts of money to fund projects, which will need to be paid for by taxpayers, the Morris School District has not borrowed money for a decade.

That was the message Superintendent Thomas Ficarra delivered to the sparse Lafayette Learning Center auditorium audience, made up mostly of faculty and Board of Education members, when he presented the preliminary Morris School District budget for 2011-12 on Wednesday, March 2.

The Morris School District currently has a $6 million debt, which Ficarra said would be paid off in approximately six years. This figure pales in comparison to the debts of other districts, including Hanover Park Regional, which Ficarra's presentation indicated has a debt that nearly makes up that district's entire budget.

"We are not borrowing anything," he said.

Under the proposed budget, currently with a preliminary figure of $100,493,559, a home in Morristown valued at $354,000 would pay $1.27 per $100 of assessed valuation, a total increase of $193. In Morris Township, the total homeowner responsibility would be $180 more a year, with a house valued at $390,000 paying $1.41 per $100 of assessed valuation.

However, Morris School District Business Administrator Chris Kelly noted that under a "best case" scenario, that figure could actually drop to $1.24 per $100 in Morristown, while the township tax figure would remain unchanged.

Under the budget, which Morristown and Morris Township voters will decide whether or not to approve on April 27, Ficarra said the tax levy to taxpayers would be 1.87 percent, under the state mandated 2 percent cap for allowable annual tax increases. This, he said, despite the Morris School District funding much of its budget itself, without a sizable chunk coming from the state.

As an example, Ficarra pointed to the Elizabeth City School District, which only funds 15 percent of its annual budget through local taxes; the Morris School District funds 85 percent of its budget through local tax levies.

"We raise more in local property taxes than the City of Elizabeth has," he said. "Somehow, we still end up paying more toward our children's education than a city does."

Gov. Chris Christie , which saw the Morris School District get $4,530,368, nearly $1 million more for the 2011-12 school year than last year when the district saw $3,551,423 come from the state.

Ficarra noted, however, the district received $8,423,163 from the state in 2008-09, essentially equaling a $5.2 million budget cut. When cuts needed to be made to compensate, he said "we cut with a scalpel."

For the coming budget, Ficarra said, "we were able to maintain where we were last year and go forward without any cuts ... we will not be having layoffs, will not be cutting programs for children that we believe in." Some programs, such as summer school, which was extensively cut last year, will actually be restored this year, he said.

The district will be taking $2.9 million from its capital fund in part to help fund various projects throughout the district, including new windows at Hillcrest Elementary School ($1,032,700), a new roof at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School ($833,238) and two new science labs at Morristown High School ($738,750).

"We're very proud we have very low debt in a climate where (other districts) are swimming in debt," Ficarra said.

The public will have an opportunity to see the finalized budget at the Board of Education's March 28 meeting, at 7:30 p.m.