Jackson voters reject $64 million tax levy
Township Council will now review school spending plan
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

JACKSON - For the eighth year in a row, voters have said no to a school budget tax levy proposed by the Jackson Board of Education.

Voters in the April 15 school election rejected a $64 million general fund local tax levy that was requested to support the Jackson School District's $136.5 million budget for the 2008-09 school year.

The vote was 3,319 no to 2,741 yes on the question of whether the board should be permitted to collect $64 million in property taxes to cover current operating expenses.

As proposed, the budget would have raised the local school tax rate by 5.34 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. To the owner of a home assessed at $150,000, the increase would have added about $80 to the school tax bill in the coming year. To the owner of a home assessed at $300,000, the increase would have added about $160 to the school tax bill in the coming year.

District administrators said the defeated tax levy and the $136.5 million budget it supported aimed to protect class size, maintain programs, add a grade 12 curriculum to Jackson Liberty High School, add 35 new courses, make curriculum updates, return the starting time to 9:05 a.m. at all of Jackson's elementary schools and add a 5:05 p.m. late bus at both high schools.

"We are obviously disappointed that the budget was not successful," Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella said. "We believed we could have had a budget that was reasonable and would have allowed us to continue our programs for the students, while also being fair to taxpayers."

Gialanella said that over the next few weeks administrators and board members will discuss what the rejection of the tax levy will mean to the school district.

The school district's proposed 2008-09 budget will now be forwarded to the Township Council for review. The council can recommend that the proposed $64 million tax levy be reduced or it can recommend that the tax levy be left as the board proposed it. A decision is due by mid-May.

Voters on April 15 also rejected a second ballot question that sought to raise an additional $226,146 in property taxes that would have been used to restore assistant coaches at both middle schools and high schools in a number of sports. The extra funds would have also been used to hire instructors and advisers for a number of other school activities. The vote on the second question was 3,239 no votes to 2,369 yes votes.

The positions that were proposed in the second question may not be added to the 2008-09 budget and the defeat of the second question may not be appealed by the board. The second question required a 60 percent majority in order to pass, but it did not even receive a simple majority.

Also on Election Day, Jackson voters elected Barbara Fiero and Scott Sargent to three-year terms on the school board. Fiero is a current member of the board.

Fiero received 2,451 votes and Sargent received 2,434 votes. to win seats on the seven-member board.

Sargent said, "I'm happy about winning. I worked very hard. We had a great campaign team.We all did a lot of work, a lot of research and a lot of footwork. It was a great win for the whole team."

Fiero could not be reached for comment.

Current board member Michael Hanlon was unsuccessful in his bid for re-election. Hanlon received 2,183 votes. Howard Tilis (2,018 votes) and Sal Duscio (1,217 votes) also fell short in their bids for election to the board.

The vote totals are unofficial until they are certified by the Ocean County Clerk's Office this week.