The tax increase is based on the assessed value, not market value (how much a home sells for). Tax assessments are lower than the market value. The tax increase for both the Freehold Regional High School District and the Marlboro referendum will be $329 for an assessed home of $250,000; not $500 to $1,000 as stated in Ms. Eisenberg’s letter.

Concerning Ms. Eisenberg’s remarks to the timing of the Marlboro referendum on March 14, has she done a survey of the seniors in Marlboro? How does she know they are all "wintering in Florida"? Wouldn’t it have been better then to have this referendum in January? The seniors make up a small percentage of Marlboro’s population.

I also want to dispute Ms. Eisenberg’s capacity levels. I went over her figures with the information I received from the Board of Education and cannot find any way she came to her conclusions. There are two different capacity levels, functional and educational. They are not the same.

The educational capacity is what people really care about, the number of children in each classroom and the quality of education each child receives. We are now 777 children over the educational capacity of our school buildings.

The final note I would like to dispute is Ms. Eisenberg’s reference to Colts Neck’s proposed new school. Colts Neck is currently putting before their taxpayers a $17.7 million school. Ms. Eisenberg failed to mention that Colts Neck already owns the land and that the school will only house kindergarten to second grades. Fac-tor in land acquisition, and Colts Neck would be paying a lot more.

Also, the state mandates the size of the school buildings due to the size of the occupants. Therefore, the proposed new Marlboro middle school will have to be larger than one for kindergarten through second grade, as well as offer technology labs, science labs, lockers, etc. The people of Marlboro are really getting a bargain with this proposed middle school.

I hope Marlboro residents truly show how much they care about the future of our community by voting yes on March 14 and not let people like Ms. Eisenberg poison you with her falsehoods.

Lorie Terracciano

Marlboro