Funds raised by the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex will be put toward purchasing new buses for Toms River schools.
About $1.2 million is in the district's enterprise fund, money raised through the operation of the "Bennett Bubble" at Intermediate East. Six mini buses will be purchased from that fund at a total cost of $394,000, according to the district.
"I think one of the great things about these enterprise funds is when you can purchase something that's directly relevant to the running of this school district," said schools Business Administrator William Doering at a district budget and finance committee meeting this week. "People see the connection between having these funds and using them for something that you'd otherwise be paying as a taxpayer."
The buses will be purchased through the Middlesex County educational cooperative, a statewide system that Doering said offered the best pricing at about $65,000 each.
Utilizing enterprise funds is "basically tax relief," said school board member Mike Jedziniak. "It's avoiding cost."
"The bottom line is the taxpayer is benefiting from the enterprise fund," said school board member Joseph Torrone.
"We think it's not only an appropriate use of those retained earnings but also an efficient use," Doering said.
The buses are part of an ongoing replacement program designed to ensure that the district isn't faced with a large-scale bus replacement all at once.
"I want to make clear that this just isn't coming out of nowhere," Doering said. "We have to continue to cycle our buses or we're going to get to a point where we need to replace them in one year and that's going to devastate us."
Enterprise funds were used two years ago, when $500,000 was put toward bus purchases, according to the district. The district also has another $800,000 in enterprise funds raised from the Pine Belt Arena at the High School North campus.
The district currently uses private contractors for some of its routes requiring mini buses. Another "huge benefit" to the purchase is that those routes can potentially be operated in-house.
"Once we have the appropriate replacements, we're going to be in better shape to take on more of these types of routes," Doering said.
The district also discussed preparations to enter into a $121,000 contract for the purchase of Konica copiers for seven buildings — six schools and the central office. That purchase was included in the district's budget and is unrelated to the enterprise funds.
Do they realized there is probably going to be a $15million shortfall in tax revenue next year? Talk about fiscally irresponsible.
If we did not have these arenas, we would have to go and not only pay when we see games, but also pay for a contract for our teams to attend events there. Additionally how about all the tolls as gas we would be using to drive up to god knows where? As for $14, it doesn't seem to me that this is a budget buster. Considering all of the equipment needed for sports, it pales in comparison. How about parents who cannot afford their children playing sports that they may love? Or the parents that work overtime and miss these events? Keep these in mind next time you have the joy of watching your child compete.
Due to the devistation of Sandy, tax revenues are down. The already projected 'loss' is staggering. The tax hikes that we will soon receive - with will surely affect us all. Families who were barely hanging on 'pre-Sandy' will now be forced out, driving tax revenues yet even higher. While the purchase of new school buses will certainly create jobs, the additional payroll, insurance, maintanance and eventually pensions - will come out of the taxpayers pocket. Parents of the children who will benefit from the small buses, already receive social security comensation, along with many other benefits for their children. Why not drive their own children to school?
How about we get back to the REAL reason why we send kids to school! I know in Toms River it is for sports but, the last time I looked I thought it was so these kids could learn how to read, write, and do arithmetic. But, looking at the SAT scores in this district I see that my thought about that is wrong! I see that the only thing that matters in this district is the sports programs. Here we have people who are having a hard time wondering how they are going to pay to either repair or replace or in somecases raise their home that were destroyed or damaged from Super Storm Sandy. Then you have the people who are just barely holding onto their homes because this Township and School District think that they can just spend money like there is an unlimited amount to be had. Here we have our Mayor, Council, Business Administator(from both the town and school district) and School Board telling us that they are going to have "to make very tough decisions" with the up coming budgets due to the fact that neither the town or the district know what kind of State Aid they are going to recieve and the fact that the are losing tax revenue due to MANY tax appeals and the storm. So here we go again instead of holding off on spending they just spend spend spend. Oh, and Silverton Mom, how about we assess a fee to each parent of a child who participates in club or a sport to help pay for the coach or moderator as we as taxpayers are paying twice for these people.
Scott, as for the big, older buses, don't you think they would like to replace those, just read these comments, nobody wants to pay for anything. Since Sandy blew through, I truly understand what everyone is saying, but somethings need to be done. This is why they want to buy in small numbers, buy 6 this year, 6 next year, 6 the year after, then when you needed to buy 20, all you need is to get are 2.
You would do well to avoid personal attacks and embody a more appropriate form of verbage when it comes to expressing yourself.