Hazlet school budget passes by slim margin BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer HAZLET- When the voteswere finally tallied in the school budget elections late on April 15, 74 percent, of Monmouth County school budgets had been approved by voters. In theHazlet School District, where officials had made a special effort to drum up support for the $47.7million spending plan, the budget passed by only 18 votes. Hazlet Schools Superintendent William O. George credited the state school funding formula for voter approval of the budget for his district as well as others. "The fact that we were able to receive an additional $1.2 million, which was an additional $875,000, that went straight back to the taxpayers," George said, "is why the numbers passed across the state." Of the 54 school district budgets inMonmouth County, 40 passed. In Hazlet, 2,070 residents cast their votes with 1,044 voting yes, representing 50.43 percent of the residents who voted. Voters had failed to approve the school budgets in the two previous years. This year's budget increase over last year is 1.84 percent, or 5.3 cents per $100 of assessed property value, which amounts to an increase of $71 per year, or $6 permonth, for the average taxpayer. George and business administrator Christopher Mullins put in extra effort to spread the word to get their budget passed as they went to township committee meetings and visited senior citizens. "The Board of Education charged me with creating transparency with the process,"George said. "Wemade every effort to visit every facet of the township. We spoke to people thatwe normally don't get to reach." George said that part of the budget would go toward bringing more students into the district. The budget includes $250,000 for a portion of a lease purchase of the West Keansburg school building from Brookdale Community College. "We are very grateful to the community for helping to pass this budget,"George said. "This was our lowest increase this decade and we had the lowest cost per pupil in Monmouth County. We made sure to show good, fiscal responsibility." In the school board elections, incumbentsGlennMason and Joseph Lamb Jr. retained their three-year seats whileWilliam Kolibas Jr. won the third seat. Incumbent Jay Oza lost his bid to remain on the board. The $17,999,781 budget passed by a similar slim margin in Keyport of 355-341. The budget saw an increase of 2 cents per $100 of assessed property value. In the elections, incumbents George Zakutansky, Edward McNamara and Joseph Biagianti all retained their seats for another three-year term. Patricia Knudsen was elected to a twoyear term. The budget passed in Middletown as well, a district with 17 schools and 10,200 students, with a $140.5 million spending plan and $115.6 million tax levy. The Middletown budget passed on a 54 percent approvalwith 2,787 out of 5149 voting yes. The proposed budget amounted to an increase for each taxpayer of 6.8 cents per $100 of property value. Incumbents Kevin Ryan, Laura Agin, and Rose Stallmeyer retained their seats on the board defeating newcomer Andrew Bane. Middletown had various presentations on their budget as well, a model also performed by Hazlet and Dr. George. George said that it was a good sign for the county and his district that the budget passed. "We put in a lot of effort into presenting this budget to get it passed," George said. "I'm glad our budget passed."