CENTRAL JERSEY: School budgets OK’d in Robbinsville, Millstone; defeated in Upper Freehold Regional, Plumsted

Updated

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   Voters in Robbinsville and Millstone approved their school budgets on Wednesday night, but the 2011-2012 spending plans for the Plumsted and Upper Freehold Regional school districts were defeated.
   All of the local 2011-2012 school budgets met the requirements of the state’s new 2 percent cap on increases in the tax levy — the total amount raised by taxation. Some districts, however, had resorted to layoffs, program cuts and higher student fees in order to keep their budgets within the 2 percent cap.
   All incumbent school board members seeking re-election in these communities won their races.
Robbinsville
   With nearly 24 percent of the township’s voters going to the polls, the Robbinsville school budget passed by 12 votes with 958 in favor and 946 against. Municipal Clerk Michele Seigfried said Wednesday night there were only three provisional ballots, so those will not affect the outcome.
   The 2011-2012 budget is supported by a $31.5 million tax levy and will require a tax rate of $1.4332 per $100 in assessed valuation. This means the owner of a home assessed at the new township-wide average of $385,000 will pay $5,518 a year in school taxes, an increase of $257.
   In the uncontested race for a one-year unexpired term on the Board of Education, Vincent Costanza, of Union Street, was re-elected with 1,231 votes.
   The five-way race for three full-term seats on the Board of Education was won by the incumbents: Sharon DeVito, of Charlene Court, received 1,043 votes; Matthew T. O’Grady, of Hillside Drive, received 989 votes; and Carol Boyne, of Barto Way, received 920 votes.
   Newcomers D.L. Daniel, of Sven Way, and Thomas Thackston, of Windward Way, lost with 819 and 541 votes, respectively.
   Mr. Costanza, Ms. DeVito, Mr. O’Grady and Ms. Boyne will be sworn in to their new terms at the Robbinsville Board of Education’s annual reorganization meeting on Tuesday, May 3, at 7 p.m.
Upper Freehold Regional School District
   The Upper Freehold Regional School District’s $33 million budget was defeated by a vote of 629-466.
   Allentown residents actually supported the spending plan by a slim three-vote margin (130-127), but the 502 “no” votes from Upper Freehold brought the budget down to defeat. When all Upper Freehold votes were tallied, including mail-in absentee ballots, the budget failed in the township 502-336.
   In order to keep the 2011-2012 budget within the 2 percent cap on tax levy increases, the district had already decided to lay off 19 employees, outsource busing to private contractors, and raise various school-related fees that parents pay.
   The defeated school budget now goes to the municipal governing bodies of Allentown and Upper Freehold, which have the option of reducing the school tax levy that the district must operate under. If this happens, the district may need to make even further reductions to programs and staff.
   If the school budget had passed it would have meant a $255 average annual increase in school taxes for an Upper Freehold homeowner and a $164 average annual increase in school taxes for an Allentown homeowner.
   The tax impact differs in the two communities because of the state equalization formula used in regional school districts, which takes into account population and the total value of properties in each municipality. The formula sets Allentown’s share at 14 percent of the tax levy and Upper Freehold’s at 86 percent.
   In Upper Freehold, there was no contest for the two open seats representing the township on the regional school board. Chris Shaw, of Yorkville Terrace, and Patrick Nolan, of Dutchess Drive, were elected with 479 and 531 votes, respectively. Mr. Shaw has been a member of board since 2005 and Mr. Nolan ran for the seat being vacated by Joe Stampe, who chose not to seek re-election.
   In Allentown, Gregg Barkley, of Probasco Drive, had no opponent in his race for a three-year seat representing the borough on the 10-member regional Board of Education. Mr. Barkley was elected with 157 votes. In the race for a one-year unexpired term representing Allentown, Eileen Heddy, of Sandburg Drive, defeated her next-door neighbor, Edward Tranosky, by a vote of 128-73.
   The Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education is scheduled to hold its annual reorganization meeting on Wednesday, May 11.
Millstone
   Millstone voters had defeated seven school budgets in a row going into Wednesday’s election, but this time they gave the green light to a plan with a flat $26.27 million tax levy by a vote of 556-515.
   ”It’s a great day for Millstone,” Board of Education President Kevin McGovern said Wednesday night after the results were posted by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office. “We are profoundly grateful to the community for coming out to support our budget.”
   The $26.27 million tax levy is the same amount as the one set last year by the acting state commissioner of education after the Millstone Board of Education successfully appealed the cuts that the Township Committee had made to the school district’s defeated budget.
   However, because the state decision came after property tax bills were mailed out, the district had to take out a bank loan and wait until 2011 for the back taxes to be collected. Although there is no increase in the tax levy, the average school tax bill for a home assessed at $511,00 will increase $562 because of the need to recoup the 2010 tax money owed from last year.
   There were four open seats on the Board of Education, but only one race was contested. Mr. McGovern, of Schoolhouse Road, defeated challenger Neil Schloss, of North Robbins Road, for a one-year term by 483 to 350 votes.
   There were three other seats up for grabs, all for full three-year terms. Incumbents Salvatore Casale, of Timberline Court, and John Saxton Jr., of Mountainview Court, received 616 votes and 592 votes, respectively. No one filed to have their name placed on the ballot for the third open full-term seat, but write-in candidate Susanne Marasco appears to have won that seat with 78 votes.
Plumsted school budget
   Plumsted residents overwhelmingly rejected a $9.7 million school tax levy in a $25.9 million school budget. The vote was 1,041 to 543.
   Had the budget passed, it would have required the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $378,600 to pay $3,844 a year in school taxes — an increase of $46, or 1.2 percent over the current year.
   In order to stay within the 2 percent cap, the Board of Education had already decided to institute new activity fees that will be paid by parents whose sons and daughters participate in school sports or extracurricular clubs. The fees would have raised about $34,000 to support the budget outside of the tax levy.
   Three incumbents won uncontested races for their school board seats. Board of Education President Harry Miller, of Toni Drive, was re-elected to a three-year term with 962 votes; Sandra Soles, of Fieldcrest Drive was re-elected to a three-year term with 959 votes; and Barbara Wig, of Bobbi’s Terrace, was elected to a one-year unexpired term with 975 votes.
   Mr. Miller said Wednesday night that the voters’ decision on the budget was “very disappointing.” Having the municipal budget cap waiver question appear on the same ballot as the school budget may have led to some confusion in the voting booth, he said.
   ”It probably didn’t help either the township or the school district in the end,” Mr. Miller said.
   The school board’s annual reorganization meeting is Wednesday, May 4.
Plumsted municipal budget waiver
   Plumsted residents also rejected a separate public question that would have allowed the Township Committee to exceed the state-required 2 percent cap on its $3.1 million municipal budget in order to avoid cuts to the Police Department.
   The vote was 908-499 against the municipal cap waiver.
   Mayor Ron Dancer said Wednesday night that the voters’ decision was final and that the Township Committee would work with the administration, the Police Department and residents to come up with a plan to make $97,311 in cuts to the municipal budget so that it meets the 2 percent cap requirement.
   The police account was the only line item that was not reduced in this year’s budget. When asked if this meant there would be police layoffs, Mayor Dancer said: “I never start a conversation with the word layoffs. We will work together collaboratively and cooperatively to build a consensus on how to make that $97,311 in cuts.”
   Mayor Dancer said the law requires the budget to be finalized by May 20 and there would likely be a special Township Committee meeting close to that date to make the required cuts and adopt the budget.