By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
It’s back to the drawing board in the Upper Freehold Regional and Plumsted school districts where voters said a resounding “no” to budgets that already had been pared down to comply with a state law capping tax levy increases at 2 percent.
Meanwhile, school officials in Robbinsville and Millstone are breathing a collective sigh of relief because their budgets were narrowly approved at the polls April 27.
In Robbinsville, the budget passed by a 12-vote margin, and in Millstone, it was a 40-vote margin that put an end to the seven-year streak of defeated budgets in that Monmouth County community.
Statewide, the approval rate for school budgets was near 80 percent, but voters in UFRSD and Plumsted did not follow the trend. The rejection of the budgets in those two districts means their spending plans now must be reviewed by the municipal governing bodies, which have the option to cut the tax levy — the amount raised by taxation to support the school’s operating budget.
If a budget’s tax levy is reduced, it may necessitate cuts to staff and programs as it did last year in these communities when school budgets were defeated. The deadline for municipalities to act on defeated budgets is May 19.
All incumbent school board members who were seeking another term in Robbinsville, Upper Freehold Regional, Millstone and Plumsted were easily re-elected last week. In Millstone and Upper Freehold, two newcomers won races for the seats held by board members who had chosen not to run again.
A roundup of election night results in the five communities follows.
Upper Freehold
Regional School District
The UFRSD Board of Education already had decided to outsource busing to private contractors, lay off 19 employees and raise a variety of student fees in order to close $1.2 million in projected red ink without raising the general fund tax levy above 2 percent.
The proposed $33 million 2011-12 spending plan also used a number of one-shot revenue deals, such as the sale of the Imlaystown School and the district’s bus fleet, to bridge the budget gap.
Allentown voters 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. The combined tally from both towns was 629 against the budget and 466 in favor.
UFRSD Board of Education President Lisa Herzer did not respond to a request for comment on the election outcome before press time.
If the 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.
These tax impact figures include debt service from school construction, which is outside the 2 percent cap because voters already authorized that spending in a previous election.
The debt service represents 3 cents of the projected 5.6-cent increase in the tax rate. That works out to $137 more a year for debt service for an Upper Freehold home assessed at the township average of $446,215 and $88 for an Allentown home assessed at the new borough average of $294,000.
The general fund part of the tax rate increase — the portion that is subject to the 2 percent cap law — amounted to 2.6 cents per $100 in assessed value. In Upper Freehold, that meant a $118 increase for a home assessed at the township average, and in Allentown, it would have been $76 for the average borough home.
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.
The defeat of the school budget means the Upper Freehold Township Committee and the Allentown Borough Council must decide whether to reduce the $18.4 million general fund tax levy further. (The debt service increase must be paid regardless).
If the two municipal governing bodies cannot agree on the general fund levy, the executive county superintendent of schools will have to decide.
The race for two Upper Freehold seats on the regional school board was uncontested. Incumbent Chris Shaw, of Yorkville Terrace, and newcomer 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 won 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. Mr. Barkley received 157 votes.
In the race for a one-year unexpired term representing Allentown, Eileen Heddy, of Sandburg Drive, defeated her neighbor, Edward Tranosky by a vote of 128-73.
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 there were only three provisional ballots so those will not affect the outcome when counted by the county.
The 2011-12 budget is supported by a $31.5 million tax levy and will require a tax rate of $1.43 per $100 in assessed valuation. This means 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.
The budget restores a handful of the 26 staff positions cut during last year’s school budget crisis. Class sizes at the high school, where enrollment will climb by 55 students to 865 in September, are already in the mid-30s for some history and English classes and in the 40s for some gym classes.
The new budget will reduce those class sizes in September by making a part-time English teacher full time and hiring a history and physical education/special education teacher.
At Pond Road Middle School, where the guidance counselor-to-student ratio for grades four to eight has grown to 600 to 1, the hiring of one student assistance counselor will help reduce the high caseload.
At Sharon Elementary School, one literacy support teacher will be hired for students who need extra help in reading.
The budget also allocates funds for curriculum and technology upgrades that were cut from last year’s budget, sets aside more money for building maintenance and saves for future capital improvements, such as the modular classrooms that are expected to be needed at Sharon School within the next few years.
”I am just very grateful to the community for staying in tune to what we are doing in the school district and supporting those efforts,” Schools Superintendent Steven Mayer said election night.
He also said the district was committed to “using resources wisely” and to continuing to look for operating efficiencies.
In the uncontested race for a one-year unexpired term on the Robbinsville Board of Education, Vincent Costanza, of Union Street, was re-elected with 1,231 votes.
The five-way race for three full-term seats was won by the incumbents: Sharon DeVito, of Charlene Court, 1,043 votes; Matthew T. O’Grady, of Hillside Drive, 989 votes; and Carol Boyne, of Barto Way, 920 votes.
Newcomers D.L. Daniel, of Sven Way, and Thomas Thackston, of Windward Way, lost with 819 and 541 votes, respectively.
Millstone
Millstone residents voted 556-516 to approve a $31.67 million spending plan with a flat $26.3 million tax levy for 2011-12.
The budget allows the K-8 district to reduce class sizes by hiring two teachers for the first and fourth grades, which, otherwise, would have had as many as 25 and 28 students, respectively.
The district will be able to replace 10-year-old textbooks and restore the art program to the primary school that was a casualty of last year’s budget cuts. The addition of a guidance counselor also will reduce the high counselor-to-student ration that is now 571 to 1.
”It’s a great day for Millstone,” Board of Education President Kevin McGovern said after the results were in. “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 $960,683 of the $1.26 million in cuts the Township Committee made to last year’s defeated school 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 $960,683 restored by the state last year (but not collected from residents) and maintain that same $960,683 in the levy for 2011-12.
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 run for the third open full-term seat, but write-in candidate Suzanne Marasco, of Hannah Mount Drive, was the top vote-getter in that race with 82 votes, according to the Monmouth County Board of Elections.
Ms. Marasco, a partner in the Princeton law firm of Hill Wallack LLP, has lived in Millstone since 2002. She and her husband, Frank Cook, have two children, ages 8 and 6, who attend Millstone Primary School.
As an attorney who has represented boards of education in various legal matters during her career, Ms. Marasco said Sunday that she understands many of the challenges that face local school boards these days.
”My interest in and decision to run for the BOE stems from a variety of personal and professional factors,” Ms. Marasco said. “While I am a practicing attorney, my interest in and appreciation for educational excellence has been engrained since my youth. My parents, sister and many extended family members are in the educational field, and I was raised to value the importance of primary and secondary education and understand how education plays a significant role in our future success.”
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 against the budget.
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 under the 2 percent cap, school board opted to charge parents new activity fees in September if their sons and daughters participate in school sports or extracurricular clubs. The $34,000 in revenue from student fees is outside the levy cap because it is not money being raised by taxation.
Board of Education President Harry Miller said on election night that the outcome, in which only 34 percent of the town’s voters supported the budget, was “very disappointing.”
The proposed school tax increase was less than $4 a month.
Mayor Ronald Dancer said the Township Committee would talk to the school board and residents to try to arrive at a consensus on how much the school tax levy should be reduced.
”Historically, in Plumsted Township, the Township Committee has always reduced the amount of taxes whenever a majority of voters defeat a school budget,” even though the law does not require that, Mayor Dancer said.
Municipalities have the option of leaving the proposed levy intact as well.
Mayor Dancer pointed out, however, the state’s school funding formula, which provides education aid to districts, prevents any town from reducing the tax levy below a district’s “minimum tax levy” or required local share for state aid.
Plumsted School Business Administrator Sean Gately said Monday that the district’s minimum required tax levy is $9,520,736. The proposed levy amount in the 2011-12 defeated budget was $9,711,151.
Three incumbents won uncontested races for school board seats. Mr. 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. Barbara Wig, of Bobbi’s Terrace, was elected to a one-year unexpired term with 975 votes.
Plumsted municipal
budget waiver
Plumsted residents also rejected a separate unrelated public question on the school election ballot that would have permitted the Township Committee to exceed the state-required 2 percent cap on its municipal budget by $97,311.
The vote was 908 to 499 against the municipal cap waiver with 65 percent of all voters saying no.
The police account was the only line item that was slated for increased funding in the proposed 2011 municipal budget so the $97,311 in cuts that must be made are expected to come from the Police Department.
Mayor Dancer said that, unlike the procedure for the school budget, the voters’ decision on the municipal cap waiver is final. The Township Committee must now work with the administration, the Police Department and residents to come up with a plan on how to cut $97,311, he said.
When asked if this meant there would be police layoffs, Mayor Dancer said, “I never start a conversation with the words layoffs. We will work together collaboratively and cooperatively to build a consensus.”
Mayor Dancer said state law requires the municipal budget to be finalized by May 20. There likely would be a special Township Committee meeting close to that date to make the required cuts and adopt the municipal budget.
The most likely timeframe would be between May 9 and May 20, he said.

