{"id":1676,"date":"2018-02-22T03:15:49","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T08:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=1676"},"modified":"2018-02-22T03:15:49","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T08:15:49","slug":"resident-questions-political-motivation-behind-october-vote-for-toms-river-school-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2018\/02\/resident-questions-political-motivation-behind-october-vote-for-toms-river-school-referendum\/","title":{"rendered":"Resident Questions Political Motivation Behind October Vote for Toms River School Referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Toms

Toms River Regional (TRRS) Board of Education headquarters. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Toms River Regional school district is considering holding a special referendum vote in October that could cost $100,000 or more despite the fact that there would be no cost to add the question on school funding to the general election ballot a month later.<\/p>\n

While the date and scope of the potential referendum vote \u2013 which could total up to $160 million \u2013 are still undetermined, one township resident questioned the motives behind holding the vote on a Tuesday in October rather than four weeks later, when presumably more voters would turn out at the polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy does this have to be a special election?\u201d asked Toms River resident Dennis Galante at Wednesday night\u2019s Board of Education meeting. \u201cIf I look at Oct. 2, I see it as you keeping it out of the general election. I also see the fear as to why you would not run this in the general election, because when you get each and every person to get out and vote \u2026 we had this four or five years ago, it was defeated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some residents have quietly questioned the stated goal of holding the vote in October. In past referendum votes in Toms River, there were allegations of flyers being passed around school properties promoting a \u2018yes\u2019 vote, Galante said.<\/p>\n

The referendum will include more than $100 million worth of improvements to all of the district\u2019s 18 schools. Officials have said drastic repairs are necessary to heighten student safety, serve disabled students\u2019 needs and improve both the mechanical and aesthetic feature of each school building. A list of sample items included in the referendum vote was divulged during a public information session<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Galante, specifically, took issue with a statement made by Board President Russel Corby, who said \u201cplan B,\u201d if the referendum is voted down, would cost more for taxpayers. Galante said he hoped the statement would not be construed as a threat. Under state law, board members must remain neutral and neither advocate for, or lobby against, a referendum.<\/p>\n

Corby did not elaborate on what \u201cplan B\u201d would consist of, but indicated that if the vote fails, the district could be forced to borrow for improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is logical to believe that the longer you let these projects go down the road \u2013 we already hear about interest rates going up \u2013 the more expensive they become,\u201d said Corby, a former Democratic mayor of Pine Beach.<\/p>\n

The idea of a referendum sparked some debate at the meeting, even for one resident who said she would normally support a measure that funds school improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere really is an issue here of, \u2018why am I going to give you more of our money?\u2019\u201d said Krista Whittaker, of South Toms River.<\/p>\n

Corby called the funding of school improvements a \u201cgenerational issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it doesn\u2019t go through, it is like those people in Washington and Trenton who keep kicking the can down the road,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is very much a generational issue. We all must remember that someone in a past generation put up the money to build those schools, and they sacrificed in their generation. In the \u201860s, \u201870s and \u201880s, when the population was booming in Toms River, there were many schools that had to be built, and the people did what they had to do. This is the same question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galante, however, said New Jersey\u2019s highest-in-the-nation property taxes led him to oppose new taxation.<\/p>\n

\u201cProsperity in New Jersey is declining, particularly in Ocean County,\u201d he said. \u201cWith the referendum, taxes will be increasing again, probably creating more foreclosures, and I want to understand how taxpayers can afford this.\u201d<\/p>\n

William Doering, the district\u2019s business administrator, has said he expects the state may contribute up to 40 percent of the funding if the referendum receives voters approval. For a hypothetical $100 million referendum with the state covering 30 percent (as a conservative estimate), the average tax increase would be about $96 per year for 20 years, the length of the bonds that would be utilized for the funding.<\/p>\n

Doering said the last time the district held a referendum on a date other than that of the general election, taxpayers funded it to the tune of between $80,000 and $90,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would expect around $100,000\u201d this time, he said.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Toms River Regional school district is considering holding a special referendum vote in October that could cost $100,000 or more despite the fact that there would be no cost to add the question on school funding to the general election ballot a month later. While the date and scope of the potential referendum vote […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5],"tags":[538,11],"class_list":["post-1676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-toms-river-schools","tag-school-referendum","tag-toms-river-nj-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/DSC_0582.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}