Chesterfield committee awaits meeting with school board
By: Stephanie Prokop
CHESTERFIELD The Township Committee tabled the public hearing for the 2007 municipal budget until it meets with the school board to discuss issues that were raised at the March 22 meeting.
The school board and committee will have a joint meeting session, to answer residents questions about issues surrounding the December 2007 referendum for a second elementary school in the district.
Approximately 40 residents came out to the public hearing.
The conversation on the 2007 municipal budget progressed into questions about the impact the impending referendum will have on the tax rate if it is approved.
Mayor Brian Kelly said that although the municipal and the school budgets are separate, he would look into a discussion with Superintendent Constance Bauer for the possibility of a joint meeting so residents could have one forum to make all of their concerns known.
Questions surrounding the proposed new school began when the committee reported that it had a $7 million surplus for the 2007 year.
Mayor Kelly attributed approximately half of the surplus to the sale of Transfer of Development Right credits, (TDR) that was considered a one-time sale during 2006.
Township Clerk Bonnie Haines added that the rest of the difference included construction code fees.
Frank VanGelder, of White Pine Road, asked why the local purpose tax had not been eliminated if the township had $7 million in surplus.
"I have thought a lot about your suggestions, and we feel that we have been good stewards of the township budget," said Mayor Kelly. "We are coming into some unforeseen times, and some folks are saying that we may want more services," he added.
Chesterfield’s budget for 2007 is $3.43 million. Under the proposed budget, the local tax rate would drop from 9.9 cents to about 4 cents per $100 of assessed property value. For the owner of an average assessed house at $462,568, that would spell a local purpose municipal tax bill of about $185 a year, or about $25 less than last year. Last year’s average assessed house value was $212,000, as the township has undergone a revaluation in the past year.
"We’re asking the tax payers in Chesterfield to raise (approximately) $278,000. We are going through some growing pains," said Mayor Kelly.
"We have a school to construct, and we’re asking folks to appreciate the progress (of the entire township). The issues that we may be facing with the impending tax cap over time may effect us if we eliminated the local purpose tax."
Committeeman Michael Hlubik also stated that any excess money may be used as a "cushion" to the township after the new school is built.
The hearing then turned to the discussion of the pending school referendum that will be voted upon in December. Some residents asked what kind of aid, if any, the municipality could give to the school.
Mr. Hlubik said that the municipality cannot just arbitrarily go in and give the school board money, and that if they are going to help them out in any financial way, there has to be some planning involved.
Other residents asked if there was still a plan to purchase two adjacent parcels of land, one on Fenton Lane and the other on Bordentown-Chesterfield Road, and questioned whether these properties are being eyed as potential school sites.
Mr. Durr responded that the committee could not discuss those issues in public because some of the details haven’t been worked out yet.
The committee then voted to table the municipal budget hearing until the April 12 meeting "for purposes of further discussion with the school."
Ms. Haines said that the Township Committee does not know when the meeting will occur between the school board and Township Committee.

