APP Poll

[admin]

This week the Asbury park Press has an interesting readers poll, which would apply to small towns like ours.

Would you agree to merge your town and school district with a neighboring town and school district if it would cut your property taxes in half?

At the time of this post, the yes vote is ahead by a large margin. What do you think, readers? Would this be good for us?

www.app.com/

[fiberisgoodforyou]

Nov 3, 2008 7:20:28 GMT -5 admin said:

This week the Asbury park Press has an interesting readers poll, which would apply to small towns like ours.

Would you agree to merge your town and school district with a neighboring town and school district if it would cut your property taxes in half?

At the time of this post, the yes vote is ahead by a large margin. What do you think, readers? Would this be good for us?

www.app.com/

For the Record, I was recently Appointed to the State and County Department of Education's Shared Services ~ Consolidation Committee.

I am very excited and honored to be part of a critical new initiative to help keep the cost of education down, to be part a serious effort that will help keep our taxes lower, and most of all, be part of conceded county wide and state wide effort to improve the quality of education for our public schools!

I will keep you all posted....

[adefonzo]

It's an interesting poll...until you really think about it...

I would like to meet the person here in New Jersey that wouldn't want to "cut your property taxes in half" by merging with a neighboring school district.

There are a couple of problems with this issue, which have been brought up before...

First problem, the likelihood of cutting your property taxes in half is highly, HIGHLY unlikely. There should certainly be a cut...but half is a very big number, especially when you realize that the school portion (though the largest portion) does not count for all of your property taxes. Do the math...you would have to cut the school portion of your property taxes by 65-70% in order to cut your overall property taxes by half. I don't know how we could possibly find those kind of cuts in the budget.

The second problem...unless the state reverses it's position on this, no town will be forced to enter into a merger unless both sides agree. This has been the problem for those of us here in the Boro.

The harsh fact of the matter is that none of the surrounding districts want to merge with the Boro...you can decide for yourselves why they don't want to merge with us, but for most of us, the answer is as clear as day.

Regardless...as I said, the state has held to the idea that no one will be merged unless it is mutually agreed upon. Now, currently, the Department of Education does have the County Superintendents studying the advantages of merging certain school districts within their counties...so perhaps the state is entertaining the idea of mandating certain "pairings"...though I would have to believe that any forced mergers would be fought and fought harshly by many parents...unless, if by some magical formula, the state is suddenly able to prove that you can cut property taxes in half by going forward with this merge...but as I mentioned...half is a huge percentage of the school funding portion.

There is another side to this issue that doesn't get mentioned quite as often, but I think it may be because we have not yet gotten to a point where consolidation is a real possibility. This other opinion is that there are many folks here in the Boro that would be very opposed to consolidation because they take a great deal of pride in what our schools are able to accomplish while we stand alone. There are those who feel that consolidation will take away some of the "character" from the education that children receive here in the Boro. I am not totally dismissing or totally agreeing with these folks...just pointing out that this sentiment does exist.

Along with Ted, I am also on the Consolidation Committee and look forward to hearing what ideas may pop up.

Not speaking at all for the Board, I will say that I myself have been a fan of consolidation with another district for several years now...but again, there are many problems that arise from that idea.

All that being said...sure, I'd be all for merging with another school district if it would cut my property taxes in half!!! ;D

[admin]

Nov 3, 2008 9:39:03 GMT -5 fiberisgoodforyou said:

Nov 3, 2008 7:20:28 GMT -5 admin said:

This week the Asbury park Press has an interesting readers poll, which would apply to small towns like ours.

Would you agree to merge your town and school district with a neighboring town and school district if it would cut your property taxes in half?

At the time of this post, the yes vote is ahead by a large margin. What do you think, readers? Would this be good for us?

www.app.com/

For the Record, I was recently Appointed to the State and County Department of Education's Shared Services ~ Consolidation Committee.

I am very excited and honored to be part of a critical new initiative to help keep the cost of education down, to be part a serious effort that will help keep our taxes lower, and most of all, be part of conceded county wide and state wide effort to improve the quality of education for our public schools!

I will keep you all posted....

Fiber and Andrew,

That is good news and congratulations on your appointments. That sounds like something where appointees can really make a difference. Definately keep us informed.

[adefonzo]

Well..you're not wrong...I don't have children...I'm just a big child myself...

I don't agree, however, that I deserve any kudos...let along extra kudos...I'm involved because I feel it's my responsibility to be involved in some form or another. I don't believe in just complaining about things from the outside, I believe you should get involved. It's not something that deserves praise or recognition, it's simply a part of being a part of a community...in my own opinion.

[admin]

Nov 3, 2008 17:13:01 GMT -5 adefonzo said:

It's an interesting poll...until you really think about it...

I would like to meet the person here in New Jersey that wouldn't want to "cut your property taxes in half" by merging with a neighboring school district.

There are a couple of problems with this issue, which have been brought up before...

First problem, the likelihood of cutting your property taxes in half is highly, HIGHLY unlikely. There should certainly be a cut...but half is a very big number, especially when you realize that the school portion (though the largest portion) does not count for all of your property taxes. Do the math...you would have to cut the school portion of your property taxes by 65-70% in order to cut your overall property taxes by half. I don't know how we could possibly find those kind of cuts in the budget.

The second problem...unless the state reverses it's position on this, no town will be forced to enter into a merger unless both sides agree. This has been the problem for those of us here in the Boro.

The harsh fact of the matter is that none of the surrounding districts want to merge with the Boro...you can decide for yourselves why they don't want to merge with us, but for most of us, the answer is as clear as day.

Regardless...as I said, the state has held to the idea that no one will be merged unless it is mutually agreed upon. Now, currently, the Department of Education does have the County Superintendents studying the advantages of merging certain school districts within their counties...so perhaps the state is entertaining the idea of mandating certain "pairings"...though I would have to believe that any forced mergers would be fought and fought harshly by many parents...unless, if by some magical formula, the state is suddenly able to prove that you can cut property taxes in half by going forward with this merge...but as I mentioned...half is a huge percentage of the school funding portion.

There is another side to this issue that doesn't get mentioned quite as often, but I think it may be because we have not yet gotten to a point where consolidation is a real possibility. This other opinion is that there are many folks here in the Boro that would be very opposed to consolidation because they take a great deal of pride in what our schools are able to accomplish while we stand alone. There are those who feel that consolidation will take away some of the "character" from the education that children receive here in the Boro. I am not totally dismissing or totally agreeing with these folks...just pointing out that this sentiment does exist.

Along with Ted, I am also on the Consolidation Committee and look forward to hearing what ideas may pop up.

Not speaking at all for the Board, I will say that I myself have been a fan of consolidation with another district for several years now...but again, there are many problems that arise from that idea.

All that being said...sure, I'd be all for merging with another school district if it would cut my property taxes in half!!! ;D

Good post Andrew. Your skepticism of property taxes getting cut fully in half is well founded. Realistically, if we want to see schools tax's cut, it will require that we get away from the current class warfare approach and require that all parents pay their own way. And trust me, if the people who are using the services had to pay their way, the cost per pupil would go down very quickly. But, we know that is not going to happen.

Don't forget, this question mentions towns, not just school districts. Also, cutting property taxes in half would indicate that the county portion would get cut too. Can they do that much?

Another part of the equation, at least pertaining to us and the township is party rule. I have to wonder how much party rule is a factor toward resistance to consolidation in general. The borough is solid Dem. The Township is solid GOP. What would the local political climate look like if the towns merged? I bet we would see some serious races! For that reason, I doubt either party wants to give up control of their town.

[admin]

As of toay, the APP poll is...

2777 total votes.

81 percent yes

13 percent no