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News articles
School officials chafe under criticism MOORESTOWN..."The gathering of Burlington and Camden county school superintendents represented districts ranging from Moorestown -- wealthy and recently named by one publication as America's best place to live -- to cash-strapped Willingboro, where district mismanagement forced a $10 million state bailout.

But their common ground was abundant -- the feeling that a recent state report on superintendent perks has led legislators to unfairly paint them with a broad, negative brush, scapegoating them all for skyrocketing property taxes, failed budgets and other problems..."

[and] Low tax collections cost (New Jersey) $500M Friday, May 05, 2006

School officials chafe under criticism

By LARRY HANOVER

Courier-Post Staff

 

 

MOORESTOWN

 

The gathering of Burlington and Camden county school superintendents represented districts ranging from Moorestown -- wealthy and recently named by one publication as America's best place to live -- to cash-strapped Willingboro, where district mismanagement forced a $10 million state bailout.

 

But their common ground was abundant -- the feeling that a recent state report on superintendent perks has led legislators to unfairly paint them with a broad, negative brush, scapegoating them all for skyrocketing property taxes, failed budgets and other problems affecting New Jersey schools.

 

"Let's eliminate all of us," Moorestown Superintendent Paul Kadri said, referring to New Jersey school chiefs' salaries compared to New Jersey's $4.5 billion budget hole. "You'd have addressed 2 percent of the state budget gap for one year. While we're (portrayed) as a big train wreck, the bigger one is the state."

 

The superintendents met Thursday at Moorestown High School to discuss concerns with the Garden State Coalition of Schools, a lobbying group for 110 suburban districts.

 

Lynne Strickland, the coalition's executive director, said school districts already were on the defensive after Gov. Jon S. Corzine proposed a budget that again kept aid frozen virtually at 2001 levels.

 

But, Strickland said, legislative leaders, including those in South Jersey, turned the heat on superintendents as soon as the State Commission of Investigation report came out on superintendent pay.

 

"After five years of flat funding, you were already taking a hit," Strickland said. "They seem to be playing it as, it's time schools took a hit."

 

The SCI report, issued in March, found superintendents saw their pay boosted and pensions padded in ways generally not known to the public and costing millions.

 

In April, nearly half of all school budgets were voted down, with some superintendents smarting that Assemblyman Louis Greenwald, D-Voorhees, said the SCI report played a role.

 

Interim Willingboro Superintendent Melindo Persi, who accepted the invitation although the district isn't a coalition member, said it may actually help as additional struggling districts go "belly up," bringing to light that the school-funding system is broken.

 

Riverton Superintendent Mary Ellen Eck said that's hardly the answer and that residents do understand, to an extent, that schools are performing well.

 

"Polls show people see such horrible things happen in public education, but not in their own towns," she said.

 

Reach Larry Hanover at (856) 486-2470 or lhanover@courierpostonline.com

Published: Sunday May 07. 2006 3:10AM

________________________________________________________________________

 

Low tax collections cost $500M

Friday, May 05, 2006

By Terrence Dopp

gcnews@sjnewsco.com

TRENTON -- In an announcement met with a mix of resignation and disbelief in the Legislature, state Treasurer Bradley Abelow said Thursday that an erosion in tax collections means New Jersey's deficit is larger by between $400 million and $500 million.

 

The revised collection figures would mean Corzine is heading into next year with a $5 billion hole in his budget.

 

"The governor has directed us to find additional cost savings measures," Abelow said in an afternoon briefing given to reporters. "Literally, we're still opening envelopes, depositing checks and counting."

 

According to Treasury officials, collections of the Corporate Business Tax fell short of budgeted projections by between $150 million and $175 million, while income tax revenue was down about $300 million, at $10.5 billion.

 

While he did not give specifics, Abelow said sales tax collections were on track.

 

Abelow, Corzine's budget point man in an already tough year, said the true number will not be available until he makes his May 22 appearance before the Senate Budget Committee, at which point he is also expected to suggest cuts.

 

"Every one of us would like to find ways that don't require pain to reduce that deficit," Abelow added. "We have no choice but to go out and try to find more ways to reduce spending."

 

Corzine's spokesman said the revised figures reflect what he has called the realities of a tough budget year.

 

"This is not the story of a boy who cried 'Wolf.' Gov. Corzine inherited serious fiscal problems and we are running out of easy solutions," spokesman Anthony Coley said.

 

News of the deficit comes eight weeks before the July 1 constitutional deadline for the Legislature and Corzine to approve a balanced budget.

 

The two sides have sparred over Corzine's $30.9 billion spending plan, which calls for a 9.2 percent spending increase. To fund it, Corzine is asking lawmakers to raise to 7 percent New Jersey's 6 percent sales tax, expand the number of goods and services it covers, raise $100 million in new taxes on some businesses in Urban Enterprise Zones and institute a so-called gas guzzler fee on all cars with fuel efficiency below 19 miles per gallon.

 

Sen. Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat serving on the Budget Committee, said he considers the numbers too preliminary. Numbers released May 15 will prove more accurate, he said.

 

Sweeney has been critical of Corzine's tax proposals, saying he failed to adequately cut spending before seeking new money.

 

"We have to find a way to get (the state) under control. Right now, it's just out of control," said Sweeney, D-3 of West Deptford. We have a government we can't afford right now. We have to make some very serious, hard choices. None of them will be popular."

 

Sweeney said he is currently crafting a list of prospective budget cuts; he declined to name any.

 

Earlier Thursday, the nonpartisan Office of Legislative services issued its own set of bad budgetary news to lawmakers.

 

Several weeks ago, the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services told lawmakers it foresaw revenues falling $186 million short of projections. In a Thursday memo, OLS Budget and Finance Director David Rosen said that number could drop even more.