Voters rejected the school district’s budget yesterday for the third time in a row while the three incumbent candidates swept the board elections, according to unofficial results. A $69.8 million tax levy failed by a vote of 1,873 to 1,131. The budget has passed only once in the last seven years. Each rejection forces the school board to negotiate revisions.
Despite the obvious dissatisfaction with the proposed $124 million budget, residents re-elected three current board members, Chet Galdo, Abraham Ostreicher and Leonard Thomas, to third terms, with one voter saying at the polls, “I’m not very happy with things, but it could be worse.”
(Source: Asbury Park Press)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
13 Responses
How could things get worse? MORE development, fewer infrastructure and resources to manage the growth, and a stagnant public school population with such a voracious budget. Ba’U Mayim Ad Nafesh!
The School Board elections are indeed the only opportunity that us the voters, have a direct input on our always rising taxes. Electing politicians based on typical campaign promises has not seemed to work.
Despite even the most passionate phone-automated plea by a noted “asken” to please allow the township the ability to raise your taxes will fall always on deaf ears – unless you are not paying taxes.
The only reason why taxes are so high in this country, is because most people do not realize how much money that they are actually paying from their paycheck to the govt. Trust me, if everyone would be 1099, there would be a tax revolution.
I am happy to see that at least the Vaad decided not to “publicly” endorse an issue that they know they can not win.
If the Kehilla receives approx 36% of the tax levy, how can they expect to receive the services if they don’t vote to approve it?
#2 Well actually they did publicly endorse to vote yes to the budget
The fact is people in Lakewood have no one to blame but themselves for skyrocketing taxes.
The Vaad, as always, asked people to vote for the new budget, which would once again mean a raise in property taxes.
With the economic situation so bad, and with so many Lakewood families living on Tzedakah, it is unbelievable that the Vaad asked people to approve of this latest tax hike.
B”H it was rejected.
Now pressure must be put that there are significant cuts in the budget, unlike last year when they got away with a $30,000 cut from a $90,000,000 budget.
Enough with throwing the Lakewood residents dog bones. We need massive budget cuts!
There is no question; they publicly asked that you vote to raise taxes, no Busha.
The small amount the kehila uses does not compare in proportion to the amount of frum people paying taxes.
In addition, the township blames the schools for everything; it’s the townships budget that should be slashed, the few percent on a school budget is nothing compared to the way the township spends, there is not a gvir in Lakewood that spends the way the township does. Look at the police cars, boats, soccer fields (very popular sport..), secretaries in the township, twenty something million on a stadium another twenty something million on public works, I guarantee they will knock down the municipal building in the next year or so and build a forty million building in its place, money is not an issue.
#5. since you know so much and you seem to know where the waste is, maybe you can suggest some ideas to the Board.
#6 It costs approx $600 to bus a child to school. (The numbers are an average between what it costs to bus and what it cost to give a parent Aid-In-Leu. Aid in Leu is gven when a a bus company does not bid on a route or a school doesn’t have enough children to put on a bus. That amount is $854 pe student) Now figure out the math. From someone that owns a home, what is the average amount of children per family that are being bussed? Four-Five? (there are many familes that have more being bussed – since High School children are also being bussed) That is $2400-3000 that someone is using up from the amount of money they are paying in school taxes. How much do you pay towards the school tax? Whatever your taxes are, approx half goes to School tax levy. The rest is math.
This is only bussing. How many many children are getting speech therapy through the loacal taxes? How about the over one hundred children that are going to the SCHI school?
Are you still saying that “The small amount the kehila uses”? The fact is that we use 36% of the local tax levy. I dont call that a “small amount”. Do you?
Meirg –
I guess you need to start thinking a little.
First of all, all your calculations are based on ONE premise, that it costs $600 to bus a child to school.
Where did that information come from? Yup, you guessed it. The Board of Education and their political patrons. Hardly believable information.
But let me prove to you how your calculations are wrong.
What costs more, busing or schooling? Even with your inflated busing figure of $600, you must be aware that schooling is much higher. Actually, Lakewood spends an average of $16,000 per public school student.
Now let’s move to the next step.
In Lakewood, only 30% of the children are in public schools, with 70% in private schools. In surrounding towns about 95% are in public school.
So, actually, the $600 the township supposedly spends on busing is a MASSIVE BARGAIN compared to the $16,000 it would cost if they were sent to public school.
Please explain how Lakewood taxes are higher than other towns, when ONLY 30% of children are in public school, and on the other 70% ONLY $600 is being spent.
It simply doesn’t add up.
There was a very well-written letter in this past week’s Yated explaining these obvious and simple discrepancies. You should really have a look.
to Meir Grunhut who spends so much time to help the Klal. thanks for your comments, don’t forget even if the bussing costs what you say & SCHI costs what you say.. the State pays back the township for most of this money. most kids being bussed live far away from the school or have to cross a big intersection, this the State pays back, SCHI as well, most of the money is paid back by the State, who are we fooling?
to #10
#10 You are 100% incorrect. Most of the funding the Sate has been frozen – many years ago. This means that even if you live far away, they are not reimbursing us. From the whole bussing budget line item which includes Public and Non-Public, we only get back approx 3 million dollars.
You are also incorrect about getting back funds for SCHI etc. We get very back little.
Since you know my name, if you want more information, you may call me.
meirg –
#10 may have been wrong, but you conspicuously imply how I was right.
The facts remain, as I clearly show, that there is absolutely no excuse for these consistent tax hikes…….and you know it!
#9 The is a major flaw in your whole arguement: You would be correct if we would get the same amount of State funding as the neighboring towns do. But we don’t. Till now, we have received approx 800-900 dollars from the State per child while the surrounding towns have received approx 2000 dollars per child. That is besides the funding being frozen on many items such as reimbursement for transportation. If you want to know more about it,you can call me.