Giralo to Mayor: No Way

Board resolution against moving elections coming

by Gabe Donio, Gazette Staff Writer

HAMMONTON—Hammonton Board of Education President Joseph Giralo told The Gazette that the board will introduce a resolution opposing an effort to move the school board elections from April to November. Mayor Stephen DiDonato suggested the move as a cost-saving measure at the January 23 council meeting. Governor Chris Christie has supported the idea of moving board elections to the November ballot.
Giralo said the board did not support the change.
“The board is opposed to the idea of moving the board elections. We will introduce a resolution to that effect at the February 9 meeting,” Giralo said.
According to a FAQ [Frequently Asked Questions] sheet released by the state, “At the November general election, the voters vote on the school board candidates and any proposed cap over-ride referendum. The election may also include a capital spending proposal. There is no vote on the annual school base budget within the levy cap.”
According to Giralo, the move will deprive people of the ability to vote on the budgets each year.
“The board wants to talk a bit about transparency. The mayor made a lot of allegations about transparency. The board feels the public should not lose its right to vote, whether it is a 0-cent increase or a 50-cent increase. The board feels the public should have a right to vote on it,” Giralo said.
In recent years, voter turnout has been light, Giralo said, but that could change if the public has a reason to come out and vote in larger numbers.
“The last two years, the turnout has been a lot lower. There’s been no controversy, and we haven’t raised taxes. But people will come out when they have to come out. A few years ago, we had 2,900 people come out, and 1,600 people voted against the budget,” Giralo said.
According to Giralo, DiDonato never contacted the board about the plan to move Hammonton’s school election to November.
“The board had never had the mayor reach out to myself or anyone on the board to discuss this. The fact is, after watching the council meeting, I’m wondering how transparent he was with his council people. It wasn’t on an agenda,” Giralo said.
Across the state, an effort is being made to shift school elections from April to November. Giralo said many of the districts moving their elections are trying to work around budget failures.
“If you want boards of education in the future to just increase things by two percent, that’s a real up side to having elections in November. In the world we live in, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. . . . The statewide side is coming from school boards that are rushing to move because they have had nothing but failed budgets. This will give those boards what they want,” Giralo said.
Giralo promised a zero tax increase for the school district.
“There will be no tax increase this year, and the community hasn’t paid the seven cents on the bond for the Sooy School yet,” Giralo said, referring to the recent bond referendum on the Warren E. Sooy Jr. Elementary School.
Having the school election in November would make it more difficult to separate the school and municipal governments, Giralo said.
“I don’t believe school and municipal government should be combined. If it’s all on the ballot in November, then we should just get rid of the school boards and the council and combine them into one thing,” Giralo said.
Giralo said he does not see a positive side to changing the school elections to November.
“No good can come of this. It’s not healthy,” Giralo said.
According to the state, if the school and the town disagree on the issue, the two entities need to work it out between themselves.
“[It’s] an issue that has to be worked out with both local authorities. The local governing authorities would have to take further action; what that would be I couldn’t tell you,” State of New Jersey Department of Education Spokesperson Allison Kobus said.
Kobus added that the state will not be changing the timeline of when it gives the aid numbers to districts.
“The state gives aid estimates as soon as it can after the governor’s budget address, but those numbers can always change as they did last year when the budget was finally passed in June. This new law has no impact on that. So in a way, November voters will have more updated information about state school aid, but the state’s transmittal of aid numbers will be as it always has been - as soon as there are estimates to give, we do, and as soon as there are updates to those estimates to send, we do,” an e-mail from Kobus said.
Should there be a cut in state aid, the state encourages cuts, rather than a tax increase more than the two percent cap.
“The cap is not on what a district spends but on its tax levy. So therefore, the tax levy cannot jump that much to offset any decrease in state aid. Any decrease in aid should result in spending cuts, not property tax increases,” an e-mail from Kobus said.
The state’s FAQ sheet also offers the following information.
“Q. If the November separate proposal (cap over-ride) is approved by the voters, does it affect the current budget or the subsequent budget?
“A. A successful separate proposal (cap over-ride) is merged with the current budget and would allow the district to increase spending in the current budget year for the purpose cited in the voter-approved referendum.”
For boards that continue with an April school election and base-budget vote, a separate proposal (cap over-ride referendum) will still need to be on the budget according to the FAQ.
The FAQ can be found at http://www.state.nj.us/education/finance/.


Gina Rullo contributed to this report.