By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sea Isle City’s Board of Education has introduced a new budget that keeps school taxes the same for the ninth consecutive year.
Although Sea Isle closed its public school in 2012 due to declining enrollment, it still must pay the expense of sending its students to Ocean City and other school districts for their education.
Tuition costs and transportation expenses for students to attend other school districts represent the bulk of the spending in the nearly $2.5 million budget for the 2020-2021 academic year, according to Jason Frost, the Board of Education secretary.
Frost said the proposed budget continues a trend of stable school taxes for the ninth straight year. The average school tax bill for Sea Isle property owners is pending budget approval by Cape May County, but is expected to be around $120 annually for a home assessed at $646,000, Frost said.
Sea Isle, like other towns, must cope with a cut in state education aid. Frost said Sea Isle’s state funding was reduced by $18,000, but the proposed budget has a big enough surplus to absorb the loss of that much aid without imposing a tax increase.
“We’re in real good financial shape. It’s easier for us to budget our costs,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
Over the years, the budget has supported a number of education and community initiatives, including mental health counseling, drug prevention, a creativity innovation project and an SAT testing reimbursement program for Sea Isle students.
The Board of Education also has partnerships with the city and the Sea Isle City Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization for initiatives that benefit local schoolchildren.
