Atlantic City school board again rejects budget

ATLANTIC CITY (AP) — The Atlantic City school board has again rejected a proposed budget that includes more than 200 layoffs.

The Press of Atlantic City reports  the board voted 7-3 against the plan Monday.

State Education Department monitor Gary McCartney, who's assigned to Atlantic City's schools, says he'll take the board's decision under advisement and get back to them.

The proposed $147 million budget is almost $20 million less than the current budget. The amount paid by property taxpayers will drop from $118 million to almost $82 million.

McCartney told the board the district is in a tough financial position after the city's ratable base dropped from $20 billion to $7.35 billion. He says it's not the board's fault, but "you can't buy what you can't pay for."

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