School-use fees may be waived for in-kind services
Board would decide what groups qualify; some worry that policy will prompt revenue gap
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

MILLSTONE — Certain civic organizations may be able to offer in-kind services rather than pay the facility-use fee that the Board of Education instituted June 22.

After months of discussion, the board approved the facility-use policy and fees with a 9- 1 vote, with board member Amy Jacobson casting the dissenting vote. The board voted to change its policy to read that, at its discretion, it may waive the fee for certain civic groups for services in-kind.

Board President Tom Foley said that the board anticipates raising $45,000 in facilityuse fees.

"The question is, if we act on [our] discretion, we may not be raising the $45,000," he warned. "How do we cover the gap?"

He added that any cuts made at this time would mean either a reduction in staff or increasing revenue in some other way. If staff must be reduced after September when children are in school, it's a big problem, he said.

The board announced earlier this year that the school district would start charging fees if the school budget was not approved on the April ballot. The budget failed at the polls, and in response the school district has eliminated $1.1 million in programs and services proposed in its $32.8 million spending plan for the 2009-10 school year.

The fees for organizations using school facilities will be $10 per hour for weekdays and $36 per hour for events on Sundays and after 3:30 p.m. Saturdays. The additional weekend fees would cover custodial costs. The district will start charging the fees July 1. Organizationsmust apply for consideration to have fees waived at least 30 days prior to the requested use date.

Boy Scout leader John Kelleher said there are 40 boys in his troop, and if the Scouts had to pay a facility-use fee, it would mean a $30 increase in a year's membership fee, or almost a 50-percent increase. He said one alternative would be that some of the money raised for service projects for the community would have to be used to pay the facility fees.

He estimated the Boy Scouts devote between 1,500-2,000 hours annually in service to the town.

"Some Scouts have trouble going to summer camp when the fee is $350," Kelleher said. "We don't want to push kids out of scouting."

Whether the YMCA of Western Monmouth County would return next year to offer before- and after-school services is still undecided, according to Schools Superintendent Mary Anne Donahue. Last year, the YMCA accounted for 1,854 hours of facility use, which would cost $18,540 this year.

Business Administrator Bernard Biesaida said if the YMCA left, it would leave the district with a big deficit. He said that if the facility use fee had been in place last year, based on the number of hours for all the organizations, the district would have taken in $66,000. The anticipation that some groups would not return once fees were in place reduced the anticipated revenue to $45,000, according to Biesaida.