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Toms River schools await state response on submitted balanced budget; sponsorships and lower‑than‑expected insurance rise noted
Summary
District staff told the Board’s Budget & Finance Committee they have sent a May 29 response to a May 21 Department of Education letter and are awaiting the DOE’s reply before finalizing the submitted balanced budget; staff also reported $595,000 in sponsorships year‑to‑date and insurance renewals that increased costs about 3%.
The Board of Education’s Budget & Finance Committee was told the district is waiting for the New Jersey Department of Education to respond before adopting the submitted balanced budget.
Staff member (speaker 3) said the district replied on May 29 to a May 21 DOE letter and has not yet received a response, leaving the board unable to finalize the budget. "We answered that correspondence on May 29, from the May 21 letter, and I have not received a response from the Department of Education as of yet," staff said.
The committee heard additional routine financial updates. Staff reported two sponsorships for the month, bringing sponsorship revenue to $595,000 year to date. On insurance, staff said all policies were renewed and bound and that the total increase was about 3%, notably below a roughly 8% increase the budget had anticipated. "The good news is that, in total, the increase is around 3%. We had budgeted closer to 8," staff said.
On contract professionals, staff said the board will receive a draft professional services sheet listing attorneys, engineers and banks, and that detailed submission spreadsheets are being uploaded to Google Docs for any member who wants to review full proposals. Auditors for the current annual audit were previously approved; staff said next year’s auditor selection will follow an RFP process.
Committee members asked when the board could adopt the submitted budget; staff and the chair explained that adoption depends on the DOE’s response to the district’s May 29 reply. No formal vote was taken during the committee meeting.
The next step is a DOE response; the committee did not set a new internal adoption date pending that reply.
