POWERPOINT PRESENTATION: In the attached powerpoint presentation, voters in Lakewood can better educate themselves about the referendum to be held September 30 for the upgrades to Lakewood’s public schools.
In an effort to educate the public about the vote, the district has also held multiple community events around town.
One of those events will be held at 6:30 p.m. this evening at the Lakewood High School.
Click here to view the presentation.
[TLS]
we don’t trust the administration or the state monitor!! VOTE NO!!
There definitely seems to be a need for the improvements, but here are a few questions which I had, and I will not vote for this unless they are answered:
1. The districts estimated net costs are about $22 million. The costs for repairs this year was $418k. At that cost per year, the district can make these repairs 52 times or 52 years before reaching the costs of replacing everything fully ($22 mill) is reached. Which brings me to my question: what is the estimated useful lives of the new assets and is it worth it for the district to go ahead with this project at this price?
2. What will the district use any extra funds (yeh right!) for, if any?
Its a way for Christie to close the state deficit!!
The replacements that need to get done are beyond repair. for instance the heating system in the HS were built in the 1970’s and repair parts are no longer available to fix these aging systems. Repairing one part on an aging system does not gaurantee another part to fail. Itslike an old car. You put in a new transmission for $1200 and tomorrow you might need a new water pump or fuel injector, and before you know it you just put in $1800 into an old car when you could lease a new one for $300 a month. The roof on the Oak St School has never been maintained until now and a repair estimate was given to the district for a few 100k with no future guarantees. Clarke and Clifton Schools have been continuously patched for years and are now beyond that point.
On your second point, Any money not spend on the outlined project will not be drawn for the account. Period. It Cant!!!!
To uberNuch
You raise a good question. The best answer I could give you is this. The hvac and roofing in these schools are in awful shape. The 418,000 spent per year is for patchwork repairs. They are only fixing emergency situations, like a classroom is flooded because of a leak.
There are still many classrooms where the ceilings leak, every time it rains. Carpets are moldy. Many classrooms w air conditioning are broke. In the winter, the heat goes out in areas of the school.
Also think of your home if your hvac system is designed to last 15 yrs, and at 20 years you just patch it up every time a part fails, the hvac will just continue to break down sooner due to the age of the system.
To number 2 , read again , $418,000. Was for emergency repair only . There are major repairs , that need to be done .
How did the Boe let this go by for so long.and give all money to private schools.and where is tuition money going for private schools, sorry I don’t understand.
Our community could build them entire buildings for 30 million.The problem is that the Ps had to use prevailing wage contractors which makes the price of construction to be about 2 to 3 times what it costs us . Prevailing wages means using only union workers at double and triple the cost .
My freinds & I will Vote NO. Let Mr Azzara the State Moniter come up with the Money
Watch the presentation! Like it or not this has to be done. If you vote yes than the state will kick in 40% of the cost if you vote no than the township has to raise the tax base to fund 100% of the repairs. If it doesn’t get repaired than the schools affected will be deemed unusable and be shut down. If that happens than no more money for public or private schools. If public schools don’t continue to exist in the town than money for the yeshivas will dry up. it is in the best interests of the children to get this done. Vote it’s your right as a citizen, but think about ALL the kids in the town.
The State is agreeable to reimburse 40% of the roof repairs. They will not pay for the brand new & very expensive air conditioning system the BOE staff wants.
Can I vote Yes just on the refinancing & roof repairs, and NO on the HVAC upgrades?
Correct prevailing wage is what is inflating the estimate of this project, if this was to be priced out using the standard prices of the industry, what private institutions and businesses would be paying the cost would not be nearly as high.
Is the overseer of this massive project with our tax dollars going to be the state monitor? The same state monitor who said he was done talking to “rabbis” but has no problem listening to Helen Tobias????
Moshe too bad they can’t use your day laborers who happen to be the parents of the students the one is fixing up the schools for. A real pity as that would really be an example of the community serving itself.
A look at prevailing wage rates for ocean county
http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/forms_pdfs/lsse/ocean.pdf
The PowerPoint is a big joke.
Any1 with a little knowledge of the BOE knows it’s one big scam… The numbers don’t add up… All my neighbors said they will vote NO, when the administration gets their act together we will be more than happy to provide funding to the district.
This presentation is a puff piece without any information. What is the purpose of the lease buyout? If it is to save taxpayers money, then why is their a cost associated with it. There should be saving associated with it.
Under what statute are the funds only available now and only if the taxpayers approve?
There is a state cap on property taxes that Lakewood has maxed out the last few years, are these costs in addition to that max tax increase? If so, then how do they plan on bypassing the state cap law.
What is being done long term to stop these constant increases in taxes?
If this is approved, what are they going to ask of the taxpayers next time to approve and take more of our money.
Why are they mixing in expenses from burglaries, will the new HVAC somehow prevent that from occurring in the future?
Mr Azarra will be overseeing the project. How does that instill confidence when he left Camden in a complete fiscal mess. Seems like he has a history of short term solutions that lead to bigger problems down the road.
I think they would have more of a chance in passing this if they showed a long term plan to save taxpayers money. As it stands they are sucking the taxpayers drive with no relief in sight. That is aside for the credibility issues.
Given the above,I don’t see how it is possible to vote yes on this.
To “Lakewood Teacher” and your concern about closing Lakewood schools, let them close down all Lakewood schools.
Between all the taxes, state and federal income, (employee and employer, I am self employed) property tax, sales tax etc, I currently pay more then 55% of earnings in taxes, and I don’t have children in public schools.
I work 14 hour days and I work more then half the year just to pay taxes. If it takes closing schools down to get the state to realize that the system is broken, then I am all for it.
Serious question, if you as a community can’t elect leaders to represent your needs, why do you feel that
A. The state should just keep writing a check to them and
B. That you all are in no way responsible for what happens
We should approve the refinancing question only. I might also consider approving some of the the roof repairs depending on legitimate urgency (and get the 40% state-aid on that expense). but the other stuff will have to wait till another time.
Unfortunately, the BOE staff deliberately designed the referendum question in such a way that we cannot split our votes, and they left us no choice but to vote NO on all 3 issues as one.
I would recommend that they resubmit the referendum as three separate questions so they can at least get approval for the refinancing. But then again, they know that no one will approve the brand spanking new super-duper-expensive, multi-million dollar, and very costly to operate central air conditioning systems for every single public school in the district.
We should approve the refinancing question only. I might also consider approving some of the roof repairs depending on legitimate urgency (and get the 40% state-aid on that expense), but the other stuff will have to wait till another time.
Unfortunately, the BOE staff deliberately designed the referendum question in such a way that we cannot split our votes, and they left us no choice but to vote NO on all 3 issues as one.
I would recommend that they resubmit the referendum as three separate questions so they can at least get approval for the refinancing. But then again, they know that no one will approve the brand spanking new super-duper-expensive, multi-million dollar, and very costly to operate central air conditioning systems for every single public school in the district.
To all who say they are voting no, for whatever reason, you are shooting yourselves in the foot. If the referendum gets voted down, say goodbye to the state aid and say hello to your bank account. The work will get done as mandated by the state and you the taxpayer will fund the entire costs out of your pocketbooks. and then of course you can start complaining that taxes went up again and we lost courtesy busing and every other service the BOE provides.
To all,
Vote YES!
The state is offering 40 percent to taxpayers for repairs. What
Taxpayers will pay the other 60 percent.- thus 100 percent.totaln
Should this not pass, work will be done asap, and the state will make sure it!s done and then folks we all will pay the100 prrcent.
Your choice 40 percent or 100 percent
You see, the schools Have to be fixed
Will be fixed, .
Noreen –
Half the truth is worse than a lie.
The State only offered to pay the 40% on a PORTION of the repairs/upgrades. It’s disingenuous for this administration to make it seem as if we will be on the hook for only 60% of the total expenses. It’s also underhanded of them to refuse the many requests the public has put forth to see the actual state documents in order to determine what is/isn’t covered by this 40%.
You don’t seem to understand that the taxpayers are going to be stuck with ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the bill on MOST of the requested items/costs. Again, the 40% would cover only SOME of the exorbitant expenses.
So.. to set the record straight, you are very mistaken. Please vote NO until such time that the BOE revises the questions in the referendum and provides the taxpayers with more than just generally ambiguous information. The mere fact that they have thus far not provided this transparency is in itself a major reason to be suspicious.
VOTE NO!