| Property Taxes, School Funding issues | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
School budgets win voter support
Like many of his colleagues, Pis cataway's school superintendent wasn't sure what to expect going into Tuesday's school elections.
The district was asking for a property tax increase of more than 6 percent, in part to help open a new high school wing next year. A year earlier, a proposed hike of less than 4 percent was rejected in what turned out to be a statewide wave of discontent over rising property taxes.
"I'm always nervous," said Superintendent Robert Copeland. "If we were to take another big hit, it would be hard to recover ... I think the voters knew that."
Indeed, the budget passed by more than 120 votes, part of a swell of voter good will across the state Tuesday that saw nearly four in five school budgets pass, according to preliminary results.
The 78.1 percent approval rate was the highest since 2001, and a big jump from the 52 percent of budgets that passed last year in the state's worst budget drubbing in a decade.
In addition, 16 of 18 voter referenda for new school construction also passed. And in 67 districts where voters were asked to approve separate ballot questions for additional funds above the state's budget caps, more than half passed. Only a third of these so- called "second questions" survived last year.
Local and state officials credited a combination of factors in the cooling of voter anger, key among them additional state aid to virtu ally every district that helped keep taxes down. Add in new spending and taxation limits, and proposed school tax increases for next year averaged 4-5 percent, among the lowest since 1999.
"There was money from the state for the first time in a long time," said Edwina Lee, executive director of the New Jersey School Boards Association. "The voters finally didn't have to choose between tax relief and their schools."
Legislators also weighed in, some Democrats calling it vindica tion of the work Gov. Jon Corzine and the Legislature have done so far in trying to stabilize school spending and funding.
Corzine and the Legislature approved several finance measures this spring, including a 4 percent cap on local tax increases, with some waivers for extraordinary ex penses. The Corzine administration also has pledged to complete a new school funding formula in time for the 2008-2009 school year.
"The nexus between school spending and property taxes has long been obvious to everyone," said state Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), also chairman of the state Democratic Committee. "But the assumption that we can't provide tax relief and substantial school aid at the same time just isn't true."
The approval numbers in some counties were striking. Close to 90 percent of the budgets in Bergen County passed. All but one of 25 district budgets in Sussex County were approved. Twenty-two of 23 passed in Warren County.
After two years of budget defeats in Boonton, voters approved both the school budget and a $23.6 million referendum for school renovations.
"It's the first time since I've been here that the budget has been approved at these numbers," said a jubilant Juanita Petty, the interim superintendent.
Senior citizens have been long considered the least likely to support school budgets, but even some Boonton seniors were feeling sympathetic. Boonton resident Leon Doty acknowledged after vot ing Tuesday night that the tax hit would be tougher on retired people like himself. But at the same time, he said, the schools buildings did need repair.
"I would like to see something good there," he said of the schools. "I'd like to see the schools reflect the community."
Still, turnout was again light throughout the state, with slightly less than 14 percent of voters mak ing it to the polls, according to the state. Last year, it was 15.7 percent.
The fierce storm probably played a role. Three districts that were especially hard hit -- Bound Brook, Manville and Fairfield -- rescheduled their votes for May 1.
In addition, the uncertain fate of "second questions" remained a troubling reality for many districts.
In Nutley, the district asked for an additional $553,000 for new computer technology in all of its schools. That measure passed.
Cedar Grove schools were less fortunate. Two separate questions totaling more than $1.1 million: $766,000 to maintain 22 staff positions, including teachers and coaches, and another $404,000 to hire new staff went down resoundingly, as did the base budget.
State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy yesterday said such discretionary questions are best left to voters. "They are really choices that local voters should make individually: Do they want to pay the extra money?" she said.
Rejected budgets and second questions can be appealed, first through the municipal council, which can make cuts or leave the proposals intact. The district can then appeal those decisions on the base budget to the state education commissioner. It cannot appeal cuts to the second ballot items.
Star-Ledger writers Paula Saha and Beverly McCarron also contributed to this article. John Mooney may be reached at jmooney@starled ger.com, or (973) 392-1548.
