LAWRENCE: Voters go to polls Wednesday

By Lea Kahn
   Township residents will go to the polls Wednesday — not Tuesday — to select three school board members and to vote on a tax levy to support the school district’s proposed $64.6 million operating budget for 2011-12.
   The six polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
   The annual school district election was moved from the normally scheduled date of Tuesday, April 19 — the third Tuesday of the month — to Wednesday, April 27, because of a conflict with the Jewish religious holiday of Passover.
   There is no contest for the Lawrence Township Board of Education this year as three candidates — two incumbents and one newcomer — are seeking the three available seats. The term is for three years.
   School board members Ginny Bigley and Bill Michaelson are seeking their third terms on the board. The third candidate is newcomer is Deborah Cherry. School board member Deborah Endo did not seek re-election.
   Ms. Bigley, 55, lives on Dustin Drive. Her four children attended the Lawrence Township public schools. She is the manager at the Penlar Pharmacy at The Manors Corner Shopping Center on the Lawrenceville-Pennington Road.
   Mr. Michaelson, 53, lives on Huron Way. He is a software developer. He has one child, who is a seventh-grader at the Lawrence Middle School.
   Ms. Cherry, 45, lives on Hopatcong Drive. She is a stay-at-home mother and has one child enrolled in kindergarten at the Slackwood Elementary School. She taught special education in several public school districts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
   Voters also will be asked to approve a $57.3 million tax levy to support the school district’s proposed $64.6 million budget for 2011-12. If voters reject the proposed tax levy, the budget would be sent to Township Council for its review.
   The proposed budget is $425,291 less than the current $65 million budget. Some of the savings is attributable to salary freezes and an increase in employees’ contributions toward their health benefits, school district officials said.
   The school district is using $354,000 in net revenue from the district’s solar energy initiative as a revenue source in the proposed budget. The solar initiative placed solar panels on the roof of every school building in the district. The district sells solar renewable energy credits generated by the panels.
   The district also is getting a $672,646 increase in state aid. The district received $1.5 million in state aid in 2010-11, and it will receive $2.2 million for the 2011-12 budget.
   Although the proposed budget is less than the current $65 million budget, it carries a 3-cent increase in the school district tax rate — from $2.30 per $100 of assessed value to $2.33.
   The tax rate increase is due to a decline in the township’s ratable base, which has dropped by $122 million in the last two years. None of the tax rate increase is a result of increased school spending.
   The 3-cent increase in the school district tax rate means the owner of a house assessed at the 2011 township average of $161,292 would pay $3,758 in school district property taxes. This is $49 increase over the 2010 tax bill, based on a $2.30 tax rate.
   Voters, meanwhile, can cast their ballots at one of six polling places.
   Voters who live in general election districts 1, 4, 7, 15 and 20 can cast their ballots at the Lawrenceville Fire Company. on Phillips Avenue.
   Those who live in general election districts 2, 5, 9 and 10 can vote at the Slackwood Elementary School at 2060 Princeton Pike.
   For voters who live in general election districts 3 and 6, the polling place is the Eldridge Park School at 55 Lawn Park Avenue.
   Voters who live in general election districts 8, 12 and 16 can vote at Lawrence High School at 2525 Princeton Pike.
   Voters who live in general election districts 11 and 14 can cast their ballots at the Ben Franklin Elementary School at 2939 Princeton Pike.
   And voters who live in general election districts 13, 17, 18, 19 and 21 can vote at the Lawrenceville Elementary School at 40 Craven Lane.
   Voters who have questions about where to vote or about the budget may contact the school district’s Business Office at 609-671-5420. The office is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.