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Moving day follows kids' graduation day in one high-tax town
Moving day follows kids' graduation day in one high-tax town
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
BY PHILIP READ
Star-Ledger Staff
It was a proud moment. Eva Fenning's triplets were graduating from top-ranked
But just a few feet away was a telltale sign of what lay ahead: "For
In tax-stressed towns such as
"My friends never believed me" when she said she'd be leaving town, Fenning recalls, but the move translates into huge savings. How much each year? "Only $13,000," she says tongue-in-cheek.
The postgraduation home sales extend to neighboring
In
"Flocks of them," Fenning, now a
One of them is Jennie Ciappa-Ng. Like Fenning, Ciappa-Ng set the wheels in motion when the younger of her and her husband's two sons, Ian, graduated from Glen Ridge High in 2005. "Actually, we're late a little bit. I waited till the fall. We sold. We actually moved in May."
The switch to
Had they stayed in
"I was really sad. It was hard for me because I brought up both of my kids there. ... I loved living there, but the house became kind of unmanageable in terms of the taxes, and I couldn't justify the taxes with no kids at school."
The saving grace of the postgraduation exodus, experts say, is it creates openings for families with young children. Drawn to the top-flight school system, they are buying into the community and keeping property values high.
As Ellen Sherry ends a chapter in her life, putting her
"If you have children at all,
For that reason, experts say,
"If there are households with children trying to gain access to the school system, then it's certainly not a crisis," said James W. Hughes, dean of
KIDS ARE THEM
Still, unlike affluent
The town's demographics -- described by a former mayor as "Kids, kids and more kids" -- does push up enrollment, which in turn drives up school costs. A few years ago, an anti-tax group called "Taxed Out of Town" tried to counter school spending. Then it fell silent. Its founder, in the words of a remaining member, had been "literally taxed out of town."
In defense, school officials drive home the message that
Still, a random sampling of property-tax bills along fashionable
For those pulling out now, the decision isn't an easy one.
"Initially they were unhappy," Kathleen Kelly said of her two daughters, the younger of whom just graduated from Glen Ridge High. "It's the only home they've ever known." But the family is moving only a mile and a half away and her daughters are coming around, Kelly said. "Because this is where their friends are."
Even post-move, life is not a cakewalk.
After resettling in North Caldwell, Fenning and her husband, David, wound up carrying two houses -- and two tax bills -- until they sold their
She still has a sense of humor, though. "I'm writing a rice and bean cookbook right now," she said. "I should be, because that's what we're eating."
Carl Bergmanson,
"I live in a fabulous town," he said. "I told my wife, 'The only way I'm leaving this house is feet first.'"
Philip Read covers