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Galloway superintendent declines state one‑time tax‑levy option; district presented balanced budget
Summary
Superintendent Santelli told the board the state offered a one‑time option that could add roughly $7.5 million to local spending but said the administration would not recommend using that measure because it would shift cost to local taxpayers and require drawing remaining bank cap funds.
GALLOWAY TWP., N.J. — Superintendent Santelli told the Galloway Township Board of Education on April 14 that the state offered districts a one‑time tax‑levy option that would allow Galloway Township Public School District to increase its local levy without a public referendum. Santelli said the district considered the option but will not recommend it to the board because doing so would increase the local tax burden and would first require use of remaining bank cap funds.
“The information came. I can’t stand here and say that I don’t certainly want certain resources, but I can tell you that we did our due diligence and presented a balanced budget,” Santelli said. “As superintendent, there is no way I would make that recommendation.”
Context: Santelli and the district business administrator, Mrs. Nixon, presented a balanced budget in March that included a 2% tax levy and the use of some bank cap to meet obligations. At the meeting Santelli said the state’s late communication offered an opportunity to ask voters for an additional levy equivalent to about $7.5 million but that the option is not free money and would fall on local taxpayers.
District officials said the state previously capped local fair‑share increases at roughly 6 percent, which produced about $1.5 million in additional aid for the district; without the cap the district’s state aid projection would have been closer to $3.2 million, Santelli said. The new one‑time option, he said, would have required using remaining bank cap resources first and then the additional levy.
Board members praised the district for presenting a balanced budget and for opting not to recommend the state option to taxpayers. One board member said the administration, teachers and staff did an "exceptional" job preparing the budget.
Why it matters: A decision to use the one‑time state option would affect local taxpayers and district operating revenues; Santelli framed the choice as an ethical and fiscal judgment about whether to shift additional cost to local residents.
What the district said it will do next: Santelli said he would answer questions from board members and the public and that more details are available in the district’s Friday bulletin and at the May budget hearing.
Notes: Santelli also discussed other operational items during his superintendent’s report at the meeting, including a recent IT migration from Microsoft Outlook to Gmail led by IT staffer Joe Valver and an anticipated delivery of a GTMS chiller later in the week.
