Most
school building votes clear
Towns rush to get state aid, fearing 'well'
will go dry
Thursday, December 16, 2004 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
Capping a year that started slow but ended in a mad
rush, New Jersey voters Tuesday approved two-thirds of their
local school construction referenda in the state's largest
day yet of school building votes.
Thirty-three school districts went to the polls Tuesday
to ask their voters to approve nearly $700 million in
projects, virtually all of them repairs, renovations and
expansions. By the end of the evening, 25 of the proposals
had won approval, for more than $500 million in work.
The votes capped an up-and-down year for the state's
$8.6 billion school construction program. Including
Tuesday's results, voters this year have approved more than
$1 billion in projects in 48 of the state's suburban
districts. Under the act, the state pays for up to 40
percent of the costs of these projects. More than $600
million in projects also have been cleared so far this year
in New Jersey's neediest cities and towns, under the Abbott
vs. Burke ruling. Those projects, for which the state pays
the full amount, do not require local voter approval.
But this was no normal year for the program, as word
filtered out this summer that the state funding may dry up
as soon as 2006 unless the Legislature ponies up some more.
Until then, there had been fewer and fewer construction
plans going before the voters, with just 25 proposed in the
first half of this year.
Yesterday's record number of proposals -- the
next-highest had been 29 in March 2002 -- was largely
attributed to the worries that time was running out.
"There is nothing that draws people's attention more
than a pronouncement that the shop may soon be closed," said
Edwina Lee, director of the state's school boards
association, which compiles the statewide data.
Coupled with new state limits on school spending in
general, "we are at a moment in time when everyone who might
have thought we had the luxury of state money is now seeing
a closing window," Lee said.
By far the biggest winner in dollars was East Brunswick,
where $106 million in additions and renovations to three
schools won the voters' okay. The state program will pay
almost $25 million of the total, with local taxpayers
picking up the rest with an average tax increase of about
$140 a year.
The district had begun work on the project a year ago
when it reviewed all of its capital needs, and there is to
be another phase for the balance of its eight elementary
schools in 2006. What if the state runs out of money before
then, as projected?
"We're very seriously watching," said Trish LaDuca, the
district's coordinator for community relations. "If it looks
like we should and we think the community is ready to handle
some more, we might think about going out earlier."
There was no clear pattern to what went up or down on
Tuesday. Large projects and small won approval, from East
Brunswick's mammoth project down to Westfield's $1.3 million
for a new high school track and field.
Of those rejected, Bergen County's Wallington and
Westwood both asked for major renovations that the voters
would not accept. Highland Park won $21 million for
expansions and renovations to three schools, but not $1.6
million for solar panels on every school.
Hillside officials worried they have missed their
opportunity with Tuesday's resounding defeat of their $33.8
million proposal, which would have renovated three schools
and expanded three others.
In the lead-up to the vote, the proposal was roundly
criticized by the city's Democratic committee, and its
leaders said the proposal was a tough sell for the
community, even with the state's help.
"The municipality can't support that much money for
programs people are not vested in," said Charlotte
DeFilippo, Hillside's Democratic committee chairwoman.
"People I talked to on the sidewalk and in stores weren't
willing to spend that much money."
Hillside officials said they may go back to residents
next year after finding out what they might accept. It's a
strategy Mount Arlington is considering as well after voters
shot down a $9.7 million spending plan for upgrades and a
new gym and kindergarten room.
"The boilers are old and we're sinking money into them,"
said board of education president Jim Eichvalds. "We don't
have a backup. We're hoping it doesn't happen, but it is
possible the boilers could go down over the winter."
John Mooney covers education. He can be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548. Staff writers
Sally Goldenberg and Joe Ryan also contributed to this
report.
© 2004 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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