BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer

WEST LONG BRANCH -- The monthly tax hike that property owners in the Shore Regional High School District would see if voters approve a $49.8 million bond construction referendum next month

is much less than what was previously reported.

Figures released by the single-school district last week indicate that passage of the referendum scheduled for Sept. 26 would result in a monthly district tax increase ranging from a low of nearly $16 per month for property owners in Sea Bright, the smallest of Shore Regional's four sending communities, to just slightly more than $21 per month in Monmouth Beach.

Meanwhile, Oceanport property owners would see district taxes go up by a little more than $19 monthly and West Long Branch, which usually sends the greatest number of students to the grade nine-through-12 school, would see district tax hikes of slightly less than $21 per month.

The referendum is designed to improve and renovate indoor and outdoor facilities inside the more-than-40-year-old high school located off state Highway 36 in West Long Branch.

If voters agree to pay for those improvements, the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) has agreed to kick in about $17.8 million, or approximately 36 of the total $49.8 cost according to a press release issued by the district on Aug. 15.

Property owners in the four sending communities would then be responsible for paying the balance, amounting to $31,962,059 over the life of the 30-year bond, district officials have said.

Broken down, passage of the referendum means that property owners in Monmouth Beach would see a tax hike of 3.87 cents which would add up to a annual increase of $255.78, or about $21.32 per month on a home assessed at $584,000, the borough average.

West Long Branch property owners would see an average district tax hike of 5.30 cents which amounts to $250.63 annually or about $20.89 per month based on a home assessed at the borough average of $473,000, according to the district press release.

Oceanport, which historically sends the second greatest number of students to Shore Regional, would incur an average district property tax hike of 4.02 cents or $232.87 yearly, which comes to about $19.41 per month on a home assessed at the borough average of $580,000.

In Sea Bright, property owners would see an average district property tax hike of 4.91 cents or $188.14 yearly or about $15.68 per month on a home assessed at the borough average of $383,000.

The projected district property tax hikes for the four communities have been determined by the average assessed valuation of a home in each, according to Stephen Brennan, the district's business administrator.

All of the projected tax hikes listed are based on tax impact per $100 of average assessed property values, Brennan said.

Even if the referendum fails, Shore Regional Board of Education President Anthony Moro said last week that the district will pursue the renovations to the aging building in a piecemeal fashion through future school year budgets.

To find out more about the referendum, district residents are encouraged to attend two upcoming open houses at the school scheduled for Sept. 12 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and on Sept. 21 from 7 to 8:30 p.m, Brennan said.

Tours of the building, open to the public, will be conducted on Sept. 16 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Polling places in the four sending communities will be open on Sept. 26 from 3 to 9 p.m.