Plainsboro reassessments bring uncertainty to WW-P budget vote

SCHOOL ELECTIONS 2005

By: Emily Craighead
   West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Board of Education President Hemant Marathe ended Tuesday’s board meeting with a plea to voters in both communities to go to the polls Tuesday.
   "You know I can’t tell you how to vote, but you know where my heart is," he said.
   Residents will have the opportunity to vote on a $136.24 million budget for the 2005-2006 school year, and they will elect representatives to fill three open seats on the school board.
   The budget represents a 4.6 percent increase over the $130 million budget for the current academic year. The increase is driven largely by a rise in costs related to salaries, benefits and enrollment growth.
   Under the 2005-2006 budget, which the board approved by a 9-0 vote, the tax rate in West Windsor Township would rise from $2.54 to $2.57 per $100 of assessed value. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $239,000 would pay $6,142 in school taxes next year, about $72 more than last year.
   In Plainsboro Township, the new tax rate would be $1.42 per $100 of assessed value. The owner of a home assessed at the township average of $395,000 would pay $5,609 in school taxes next year.
   Direct comparisons to the current year’s tax rate and average school tax bill are difficult to make in Plainsboro. Properties in the township have undergone a complete reassessment, with the value of an average home more than doubling, from $190,000 to $395,000. At the same time, the tax rate for school purposes — currently $2.29 per $100 of assessed valuation — would drop by 87 cents to $1.42 per $100 of assessed value.
   Although many Plainsboro residents face a steep increase in their school tax bills as a result of the reassessment, board Vice President Patricia Bocarsly said she is optimistic the budget will pass.
   "I’ve been trying very hard to make sure the community understands how carefully crafted the budget was," said Ms. Bocarsly, a Clydesdale Court resident. "I talked to a lot of people who were taking really big hits on their taxes and they were really being supportive."
   The executive board of the Village Grande Civic Association in West Windsor stated its support for the 2005-2006 budget in a release Monday.
   "We support quality education at a reasonable cost," said the release from the adult community. "We also look to an even greater level of communication and cooperation with both the school board and the administration in formulating future school budgets."
   This is the third year in a row the Village Grande Civic Association has supported the school budget.
   The joint district has three open seats on the school board, one in Plainsboro and two in West Windsor. Each seat carries a three-year term.
   Ms. Bocarsly, a professor in the pathology and laboratory medicine department at New Jersey Medical School, is running unopposed in Plainsboro for a second term on the board.
   Running to fill two open seats in West Windsor are Richard Kaye of Coneflower Lane at the Village Grande community; Randall Tucker of Jill Drive in Princeton Junction; and Adam Shrager of Cambridge Way, also in Princeton Junction.
   Mr. Kaye previously served as principal of South Brunswick High School and Crossroads Middle School in South Brunswick. He also was part of the team that developed the West Windsor-Plainsboro district’s strategic plan.
   "I believe I can bring my 39 years as an educator to all the issues at the board," Mr. Kaye said. "I am also very much committed to public service, and this is a way to bring that to my new community."
   Mr. Tucker, an engineer with Johnson & Johnson, has emphasized his knowledge of the district and his engineering and operations management skills.
   "I’ve lived in West Windsor with my kids in West Windsor schools for 10 years, and that’s more involvement than either of my opponents," Mr. Tucker said. "I bring the perspective of a concerned parent and an involved taxpayer."
   Mr. Shrager, a former trader on Wall Street and a current math teacher at Hopewell Valley Central High School and adjunct faculty member at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, said he would focus on managing facilities improvements and providing a teacher’s perspective in the ongoing teachers’ contract negotiations.
   "It’s impossible not to be impressed with our school system," he said. "I think I can make a positive impact as an educator and as someone coming out of the Wall Street world."
   Before the audience at a forum sponsored by the Village Grande Civic Association April 5, Mr. Shrager said, "West Windsor is not going to lose here. You’ve got three good guys here who want to serve the community."
   The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday.
   In West Windsor, voters residing within districts 1, 3, 6, 11 and 14 will vote at Grover Middle School, 10 Southfield Road. Voters residing within districts 6, 8, 12, 13 and 15 will vote at Village School, 601 New Village Road.
   Plainsboro residents can vote at the Municipal Building at 641 Plainsboro Road.