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4-25-07 Star Ledger 'Poor towns said no to school tab'
Poor towns said no to school tabs Analysis shows spending plans more likely to be defeated in underfunded districts Wednesday, April 25, 2007 BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL Star-Ledger Staff While state legislators say last week's approval of nearly 80 percent of school budgets shows that voters are pleased with lawmakers' efforts to boost tax rebates and rein in local spending, a closer look reveals discontent in poorer districts that need more funding. Among the state's 26 most af fluent communities, all but one budget passed -- a success rate of about 96 percent, a Star-Ledger review has found. At the poorer end of the spec trum, nearly one of every four budgets was rejected. In nearly every case, the rejected budgets were in communities where the state's experts last year determined that local schools already were underfunded. "When things like this happen, they're making clear statements," said Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, an organization that represents hundreds of wealthy and middle-income school districts. "Everyone needs help, but these guys (lower-income communities) need it more, and they need it now." Schools officials in Roselle, where programs are already underfunded by almost 20 percent, according to a recent state study, were again rebuffed by voters. A school budget that would have increased tax receipts by about 2 percent was rejected. But school business administrator John DeAngelo doesn't be grudge residents of the Union County town for repeatedly turning his school spending plans down. "The people feel they're being taxed to death," he said. Just down the road, in the wealthier Scotch Plains-Fanwood school district, the story was different. Voters not only approved a 5 percent hike in property taxes to support spending, they agreed to put in artificial-turf athletic fields for another $2 million. The state says the district already is spending more than enough to support an adequate school system. The pressure on places like Roselle and the other 184 communities on the lower tiers of the state's affluence scale has been mounting for years. With state school aid virtually frozen from 2001 through 2006, the burden of paying for public schools has fallen squarely on homeowners. And with local taxes rising about 7 percent every year, the burden in many communities became intolerable. Anthony Del Sordi, business administrator in Scotch Plains-Fan wood, said support for his community's budget was bolstered by the across-the-board 3 percent boost in basic state aid that Gov. Jon Cor zine implemented in lieu of a new funding formula this year. Though the new assistance amounted to only $123,000 in additional aid against a budget of $74 million, Del Sordi said it had an ef fect. "More aid from Trenton goes a long way to keeping the levy down," he said. "They're looking for the state to do their fair share of supporting the state's schools." Among the 26 school districts designated by the state as being the most affluent, only Haddon field, in southern New Jersey, suf fered a budget defeat. It lost by just seven votes. "From my view, and from every superintendent's view, the Legislature needs to change the formula," said Joe O'Brien, school superintendent in Haddonfield. "The Legislature needs to do a job. Unfortunately, it's a very tough job." Strickland, of the Garden State Coalition, said residents of the state's more affluent communities have become resigned to the no tion that if they are going to keep their schools operating at the levels they want, they are going to have to pay for it with regular property tax hikes. "In the low-income districts, the stress is so severe, they don't enjoy that option," she said. In Roselle, for instance, a Star- Ledger analysis shows that the typical homeowner's property tax bill amounted to better than 9 percent of their income in 2005. In Scotch Plains and Fanwood, where average incomes were far higher, the typical property tax bill equaled only 6.5 percent of a resident's in come, the analysis showed. As a result, DeAngelo said, Roselle and communities like it have been unable to significantly raise local revenue to support school spending while state aid stagnated. A state analysis of school spending published last year showed the effects of that pattern across the state. According to that study, the state's wealthiest communities are tapping their homeowners for millions of dollars more than is needed to provide a basic public education, despite receiving only minimal state school aid. In 250 lower-income communities, however, the opposite was true. There, residents fell $500 million short of providing the amounts needed to provide "adequate" schooling, the study showed. Last week's elections brought more of the same. Among the 62 poorer communities that suffered budget defeats last week, 52 already are underfunding their schools, according to last year's state study. But among the more affluent school districts, 19 of the 48 communities where budgets were defeated are underfunding their schools, according to the state study's standards. State officials have promised a school aid formula that will address the problem by steering the $8 billion in aid that the state hands out each year to the students who need it, regardless of the demographics of the town where they live. Lawmakers and education officials are scheduled to meet today to map out the process for getting a new formula adopted this calendar year. But crafting such a formula has proved elusive in the past. A special legislative committee set up last summer to develop a plan could not deliver one, and at a Senate hearing last week, lawmakers did not seem optimistic for this year's effort. "By failing to deliver on the promise for another school year, we have locked inequities in place," Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) said during a hearing on Education Commissioner Lucille Davy's budget the day before school elections last week. "Why should we believe this year will be any different?" Davy responded that the for mula will be developed because it is "critical." "We've got a lot of work to do, so we need to get this off the table," she said. Dunstan McNichol may be reached at (609) 989-0341 or dmcnichol@starledger.com.
Poor towns said no to school tabs Analysis shows spending plans more likely to be defeated in underfunded districts Wednesday, April 25, 2007 BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL Star-Ledger Staff While state legislators say last week's approval of nearly 80 percent of school budgets shows that voters are pleased with lawmakers' efforts to boost tax rebates and rein in local spending, a closer look reveals discontent in poorer districts that need more funding. Among the state's 26 most af fluent communities, all but one budget passed -- a success rate of about 96 percent, a Star-Ledger review has found. At the poorer end of the spec trum, nearly one of every four budgets was rejected. In nearly every case, the rejected budgets were in communities where the state's experts last year determined that local schools already were underfunded. "When things like this happen, they're making clear statements," said Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, an organization that represents hundreds of wealthy and middle-income school districts. "Everyone needs help, but these guys (lower-income communities) need it more, and they need it now." Schools officials in Roselle, where programs are already underfunded by almost 20 percent, according to a recent state study, were again rebuffed by voters. A school budget that would have increased tax receipts by about 2 percent was rejected. But school business administrator John DeAngelo doesn't be grudge residents of the Union County town for repeatedly turning his school spending plans down. "The people feel they're being taxed to death," he said. Just down the road, in the wealthier Scotch Plains-Fanwood school district, the story was different. Voters not only approved a 5 percent hike in property taxes to support spending, they agreed to put in artificial-turf athletic fields for another $2 million. The state says the district already is spending more than enough to support an adequate school system. The pressure on places like Roselle and the other 184 communities on the lower tiers of the state's affluence scale has been mounting for years. With state school aid virtually frozen from 2001 through 2006, the burden of paying for public schools has fallen squarely on homeowners. And with local taxes rising about 7 percent every year, the burden in many communities became intolerable. Anthony Del Sordi, business administrator in Scotch Plains-Fan wood, said support for his community's budget was bolstered by the across-the-board 3 percent boost in basic state aid that Gov. Jon Cor zine implemented in lieu of a new funding formula this year. Though the new assistance amounted to only $123,000 in additional aid against a budget of $74 million, Del Sordi said it had an ef fect. "More aid from Trenton goes a long way to keeping the levy down," he said. "They're looking for the state to do their fair share of supporting the state's schools." Among the 26 school districts designated by the state as being the most affluent, only Haddon field, in southern New Jersey, suf fered a budget defeat. It lost by just seven votes. "From my view, and from every superintendent's view, the Legislature needs to change the formula," said Joe O'Brien, school superintendent in Haddonfield. "The Legislature needs to do a job. Unfortunately, it's a very tough job." Strickland, of the Garden State Coalition, said residents of the state's more affluent communities have become resigned to the no tion that if they are going to keep their schools operating at the levels they want, they are going to have to pay for it with regular property tax hikes. "In the low-income districts, the stress is so severe, they don't enjoy that option," she said. In Roselle, for instance, a Star- Ledger analysis shows that the typical homeowner's property tax bill amounted to better than 9 percent of their income in 2005. In Scotch Plains and Fanwood, where average incomes were far higher, the typical property tax bill equaled only 6.5 percent of a resident's in come, the analysis showed. As a result, DeAngelo said, Roselle and communities like it have been unable to significantly raise local revenue to support school spending while state aid stagnated. A state analysis of school spending published last year showed the effects of that pattern across the state. According to that study, the state's wealthiest communities are tapping their homeowners for millions of dollars more than is needed to provide a basic public education, despite receiving only minimal state school aid. In 250 lower-income communities, however, the opposite was true. There, residents fell $500 million short of providing the amounts needed to provide "adequate" schooling, the study showed. Last week's elections brought more of the same. Among the 62 poorer communities that suffered budget defeats last week, 52 already are underfunding their schools, according to last year's state study. But among the more affluent school districts, 19 of the 48 communities where budgets were defeated are underfunding their schools, according to the state study's standards. State officials have promised a school aid formula that will address the problem by steering the $8 billion in aid that the state hands out each year to the students who need it, regardless of the demographics of the town where they live. Lawmakers and education officials are scheduled to meet today to map out the process for getting a new formula adopted this calendar year. But crafting such a formula has proved elusive in the past. A special legislative committee set up last summer to develop a plan could not deliver one, and at a Senate hearing last week, lawmakers did not seem optimistic for this year's effort. "By failing to deliver on the promise for another school year, we have locked inequities in place," Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) said during a hearing on Education Commissioner Lucille Davy's budget the day before school elections last week. "Why should we believe this year will be any different?" Davy responded that the for mula will be developed because it is "critical." "We've got a lot of work to do, so we need to get this off the table," she said. Dunstan McNichol may be reached at (609) 989-0341 or dmcnichol@starledger.com.
