JEFF GRANIT staff Millstone Township Superintendent of Schools William Setaro answers questions during a public meeting on the upcoming school building referendum.
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer
MILLSTONE — After months of paring down costs, discussing options and holding public meetings, it all comes down to March 9.
That’s when residents here will go to the polls to vote on three separate referendum questions for facilities school officials have said are badly needed.
The price tag for all three questions is $34.5 million. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday.
The first question asks voters if they want to spend $30.8 million to build a new middle school, make renovations to the current middle school and redesign the traffic flow at the elementary school.
The second question asks whether a new auditorium should be constructed at the new middle school for $3.1 million.
The third question calls for the construction of six bathrooms at the elementary school, at a cost of $530,240.
The school tax impact on a home assessed at $500,000 for the first question is $550 a year. Approval of the second question would translate in to a $50 a year increase. The third question would mean a school tax hike of $10 per year.
Approval of all three questions on a house assessed at $500,000 would result in an increase of roughly $600 per year, according to figures provided by the school district.
The district has made do with portable trailers for some classes at both the elementary school and middle school since school officials said they ran out of space for students.
But the trailers are a temporary fix. The state Department of Education does not permit their use for a prolonged period of time, Superintendent of Schools William Setaro has said.
Last fall, voters defeated a $46.5 million referendum by more than 300 votes. The state would have funded $6.6 million of that amount, with residents picking up the tab for the remaining $39.9 million.
Residents can find more information about the referendum on the district’s Web site at http://www.millstone. k12.nj.us.