The scene at Middle School North for the Howell Board of Education meeting on Wednesday night was vastly different than it had been just 24 hours earlier.
While the Town Council answered questions about the recently delivered tax bills in front of hundreds of residents the board was in front of just a handful of residents but many of the same questions were asked.
Two residents, Howard West and Jim Barden, who had each spoken at Tuesday's meeting returned on Wednesday to find out more information about the process and any steps the board planned to take in the future.
West said this week's meetings were the first of what he expected to be many meetings he will attend going forward. "We as the public have a responsibility to come to board meetings," he said. "I'm going to start doing that and come to the council meetings. I'm going to start doing that."
While he was new to coming to the meetings, West said he has lived in town for many years and said the people on the council and the board have a responsibility to serve the residents. "As leaders in these different areas we look to you guys to inform us of the important decisions," he said.
Barden also said he was looking for leadership to help guide the township through tough economic times. "I kind of challenged the council last night to kind of do a better role of being leaders in the community to either communicate more, work on our behalf with the school board, with the county, with whoever it might be who is going to end up having an impact on our taxes," he said.
He laid out a similar challenge to the board of education. "Keep saying what can we do that can reduce our cots. What are the hard decisions that have to be made that can bring the costs down," he said. "I don't know what that is, but thinking about that companies have to do that our government has to do that too."
After the two meetings West said he was looking for some accountability for what he later described as a "perfect storm" where his house assessment dropped while his taxes increased. "Last night you hear from the town council that the board (of education) is totally out of our scope and we don't have any control and so there's no accountability," he said. "So you go to the county, they tell you you have to go to your town because we're really not accountable for that."
From the time he received his tax bill on Saturday to Wednesday's meeting West said it has been "really kind of interesting because I've come to find out that nobody really has accountability for my taxes," he said.
Board President Tim O'Brien said he understood many of West's questions. "I'm sure your concerns are concerned by a lot of community members," he said. O'Brien said he also got his bill on Saturday. "I got my tax bill the same time you got yours and was also surprised."
Looking at the big picture O'Brien said there were parts of the process that were beyond the board's control. "There are things that we control and have knowledge of and are responsible for and there are things that we don't have control over and are not really able to take their position on one way or another."
O'Brien said things like the county ordered reassessment are parts of the budget and taxing process they have no control over. "We are charged with trying to maintain a thorough and efficient board of education. That's obviously been a commitment of the board."
One area both residents said they had issues with was the decision by the Board of Education to move their elections to November. That move also meant that if the board's budget came in with less than a two percent increase it did not need to be put to a public vote.
The public may not get to vote on the budget but O'Brien said that does not change the goals the board has had in previous years when plans needed public approval. "We are focused on areas that are critical for everyone of our students in the district," he said. "We are also very cognizant that we're in a recession and there is a significant strain on the taxpayer."
He pointed to the fact that not only did the board keep the tax levy flat from last year, they reduced it for residents. "We had an opportunity to do so and we did that," he said. "That was our commitment to try to walk that balance."
Over the course of the meeting Board Secretary Ron Sanasac said during the period when the district was putting the budget together they were told the gross assessment for the town was down 20 percent from $6.6 to $5.5 billion. "When we get our certified taxes and certified ratables from the township we just get the big numbers," he said.
O'Brien said because of the decrease of the township's reassessment it had a direct impact on the tax numbers. "In this case it (the budget) was reduced by a million, which seems like a lot of money, but in a $5.5 billion ratable the impact of a million has an impact but with the reassessment being set by the county they controlled the calculation."
West said he believed the events of the past few days would be enough to get residents like him more involved in the process. "My feeling is this group is going to be challenged next year to sharpen your pencil and my thinking is to start educating the community of what is being done, what can be done, and what options are there," he said.
By doing that, he said "the community as a whole can come to some consensus about what way we should drive in and make some productions in the budget, because with the shift of the tax burden I don't know if you're necessarily going to see these folks go away."
After the meeting West said he was ready to be more involved in the process after seeing how the two bodies work. "Obviously you can't address it now, but it needs to be addressed in the future because you're going to take a community that is really a good place to live, a really good place to raise a family and you're going to start to have a negative impact on it."
O'Brien said during the meeting he welcomed community involvement to help guide how issues like taxes and budgets are handled in the future. "A lot of folks don't pay a lot of attention to what's going on here because they feel it's in good shape," he said.
"One benefit from this is that it's a catalyst for more citizens getting involved not only to understand the challenges we face but what we're doing to tackle them head on," the president added.
Following the meeting O'Brien said areas of focus like the budget and student achievement will continue to be priorities for the board. "We look at each year what we are required to do in order to meet our mandate and make sure that we have the staffing in place to meet that mandate," he said. "We operate the best way we can with people being efficient and we've been successful the past couple of years in keeping the general tax levy flat or lowered."
He said he also has been frustrated by the past few days. "It's very frustrating for a lot of people," he said. "As a taxpayer I can understand that. We'll continue to focus on doing our best to control costs and provide a quality education."
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Jim
7:02 am on Friday, July 20, 2012
Adam- you forgot to mention the scheduled trip for a dozen administrators (maybe some teachers) on an all-expense paid trip to the Taj Mahal in October for a couple days of workshops....for the kids?.........why can't they go to other workshops throughout the year that doesn't carry an expense account? And, why all go to AC the same time? Maybe not alot of money, but it's not free, and indicative of the little they think about spending our money.
Ok, so in the last week, I have learned my fair share tax: I think I understand it now......this tells me that our govt has been spending more of my money than I knew, but at least now it is fair that they are getting it?
But, again, these blogs are a nice read, and informative for someone like me who is learning how old and deep rooted the problems are, but we need some action that can make a difference, or we'll be blogging about them during next years increase too!
Can someone direct me to the person who is going to fix all of this and I will give him/her my support?
Or do we start having town meetings without the govt or school board present and develop a course of action.....I'm open to suggestions.
Mary M
7:47 am on Friday, July 20, 2012
The board can say whatever they want. Everyone points to the other. Get rid of the fat throughout the whole system. Too many chiefs and not enough indians. Start getting of the non-performers to make way for the performers. Stop all the trip and added "perks" during hard times but I guess you never thought of that. You people don't want to give up anything. When a company is in trouble, they reduce the fat at the top. How do you expect people to pay and pay and pay before there is not more to pay with?
John
8:19 am on Friday, July 20, 2012
We need to get a lawyer and Audit the town.
susie
6:36 pm on Saturday, July 21, 2012
YES AUDIT IS A GOOD IDEA......WHERE ARE ALL THE TAX MONIES COLECTED FROM THE BIG CORPORATION...IE KOHLS, LOWES,TARGET, HOME DEPOT, BBB, MICAELS AND THE LIKE. AREN'T THE CORPS TAXES SUPPOSE TO OFFSET RESIDENTS TAXES? CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE HERE ANYMORE.....
Jim
8:43 am on Friday, July 20, 2012
I have a phone call with a staff member of Gov Christie's office today to discuss their review of the town budget in regards to the 2% cap, but have since added to that the readdessment impact on residents especially Equestra and others who are seeing exhorbotant increases, the lost right to vote on the budget, and admin/govt salaries.
Anything else someone would like me to discuss?
stacey
4:08 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
I have been attending meetings since they closed Southard school.
That's when we found out three administrators, including Golden, had receibed $60,000 in unused sick times a few years back. They don't like to bring that up...
scapo
10:32 am on Saturday, July 21, 2012
Jim, when will the auditor be coming? How long will it take for the residents to know the results of the audit? We are desperate for answers ...no one is providing any right now .
tpaige
12:00 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
Is there a website anyone can go to and keep track of things. With no accountability things will fall into a black hole and nothing will change. There is a lot of fat in the school system. How many bureaucrats do we have that can be reassigned to more useful jobs? The more bureaucrats the more staff the more office space, all of that adds up. 60% is a big chunk of budget, how much of the budget is going to education and how much is going to non-education items? Audit the school budget at all levels.
Jim
12:18 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
I had also thought about a website that could be used to report taxpayer waste, and keep track and make public such waste, then use at the council and school board meetings to raise the issues.
I think there have been several efforts over the years to raise awareness, but the politicians just wait it out til it fades. This needs to be sustainable, and a singular voice vs. Several groups.
A Chimney Man
12:54 pm on Saturday, July 21, 2012
The website would be a great start! We need to organize a grassroots movement for this purpose — We're gonna have to take to the streets... go door to door and stand outside of the stores at our local shopping centers.
stacey
4:11 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
80+% of our property taxes goes toward the schools - in my humble opinion that is a tremendous amount of money.
Jennifer
12:03 am on Saturday, July 21, 2012
Not to mention the fact that we don't even offer full day kindergarten.
tpaige
4:27 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
Apathy is friend to the bureaucrat and an enemy to the electorate and self rule. I think if people received a steady diet of the waste and what that waste cost change could be made; waste would also include crony capitalism. Let's be truthful it happens at all levels of govt. People need to be in a position to answer questions like "Do I want to pay for that..." or "Why weren't the people given the opportunity to vote on issue..." In the end we are not the piggy bank for everyone. When our standard of living is lowered to pay for govt, govt services and other bureaucrats then there is a big problem. Govt then is no longer serving the people but serving itself.
Jim
5:27 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
Ok, a websit to expose taxpayer waste in Howell is my project for the weekend.
Jennifer
12:02 am on Saturday, July 21, 2012
It is unethical to think it is okay to raise
resident taxes in the % that came through on the latest tax bill. A huge percentage of of our tax dollars pay for education and I can't even work full time once September comes because our town doesn't offer full day kindergarten. Just in case you weren't aware most families these days require a dual income. Jennifer Miller
Jeanette Smith
10:25 am on Saturday, July 21, 2012
FYI
Links to Board Agendas & Minutes:
http://www.frhsd.com/district/index.php?q=boe
http://www.howell.k12.nj.us/meeting_agenda_all.aspx?ctype=1
http://www.twp.howell.nj.us/AgendaCenter/Howell-Board-of-Education-10
Links to discussion forums about the Board of Education:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/howell-twp-school-issues
http://www.howellnjonline.com/index.php/board,14.0.html
http://www.howellnj.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=9
In addition, we are currently negotiating contracts with our employees. Here are links to information that has been made public:
http://www.howell.k12.nj.us/files/events/4562/FACT%20FINDER%20REPORT.pdf
http://www.howell.k12.nj.us/files/news/2002/HTEA062712_01.pdf
I'd like to encourage everyone to do their own research, review policy manuals, study the laws governing education, know the role of the Board of Education and the history of policy decisions. Where we are today is the result of decades of policy decisions at the state and local level. I look forward to greater participation by our community!
A Chimney Man
1:02 pm on Saturday, July 21, 2012
Officials are blaming the people who appealed — They should have seen the writing on the wall before they set a budget 2 years ago! Come on... Most houses were over assessed by $60 - $70,000.00. Those people who appealed had to in order to survive all the other hikes in food, utilities and GAS... Sorry Howell, but at the end of the month most of us are in the red! There is no more spare change to shake loose out of our pockets!
Jim
7:37 pm on Saturday, July 21, 2012
Jeanette- thanks for the links. But, please understand that the frustrating part is that what you are suggesting is that each resident spend the time to review all these links and material, and we elect officials who we expect to make wise decisions with our money without having to watch our pockets. But it has gotten to the point that we can't trust government to make wise decisions any longer, and we don't have the time to attend all the meetings and read all the materials.
John, tpaige, Susie- and everyone- the website is being formed at this time, it will be called TAXPAYERWASTE.COM, and I will be looking for some help with different features, publicity, etc. The purpose will be to make a repository for all we have discussed to make waste visible and hold local government and school boards accountable. I will send out notification when ready for initial launch. Right now, it is just a shell of a website, so you can check if you like the basic design.
I will be discussing the audit with the governors office soon, we didn't connect last week, but they are expecting my call. If we don't succeed with an audit, which we likely will not as I don't believe they would be anything illegal.....gotta give benefit of the doubt......then I have a plan B to challenge the impact or payback of their spending. More to come on this.
Jeanette Smith
9:40 am on Sunday, July 22, 2012
Jim, I understand and still welcome any offers of help to change paradigms.
If you aren't aware, three years ago a small group of us starting focusing on board candidates that would help in this process. Mr. O'Brien was elected that first year. Mrs. Brennan and I were elected 2 years ago and Mr. Miller and Mr. VanNoy were elected last year. This year, Mr. O'Brien is running for his second term along with two new candidates, Amy Fankhauser and Nancy Donio. Here is a link to the candidates facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/OfdForHowellBoe/notes
tpaige
10:36 am on Sunday, July 22, 2012
Jeanette - this is a start for gaining information about the candidates.
Jim
12:08 pm on Sunday, July 22, 2012
This is good Jeanette- is there a way to educate ourselves on the positions of yourself and other board members, in additon to Amy? Was your small group disbanded, or have a certain name?
Al Miller
2:30 pm on Sunday, July 22, 2012
The group was called Howell TRUTH (Townspeople Rooting out Unnecessary Tax Hikes). I am not sure who actually ran the Blog Site. The link to it is: http://howelltruth.blogspot.com/
timothy newman
2:49 pm on Sunday, July 22, 2012
the truth is ; they got hammered in 2009 by a record high # of appeals that they had to pay for .walsh say;s the school get;s paid reguardless of the shortfall! so they raised every ratable as high as they could ; not to lose any money! who was this group of names that had this authority? were told to make due with what we got; what about the town? my asessment dropped 20.000& my taxes went up 1;463 dollars! call for a criminal investigation!60% got a reduction& the rest of us pickup the slack? don;t seem fair much less legal!!
A Chimney Man
4:20 pm on Sunday, July 22, 2012
Officials are blaming the people who appealed last year... 2011 — They should have seen the writing on the wall in 2009, way before they set budgets for the last 2 years! Reality is... Most houses in the older developments were over-assessed by $60 - $70,000.00. After 2 years of over paying, we had to appeal in order to survive all the other hikes in food, utilities and GAS... Sorry Howell, but at the end of the month most of us are in the red! There is no more spare change to shake loose out of our pockets!
Mike Rogers
7:47 pm on Sunday, July 22, 2012
So what these "OFFICIALS" are saying is that the people that where over-assesed should have just written the check for their inflated tax bill and not say a word. These people can't possibly be saying this with a straight face. If the people don't look out for their wallet NO POLITICIAN OR CITY OFFICIAL EVER WILL. So the spin game begins. The bottom line is that there are no politicians looking out for the good of the people, just want to line their own pockets.
tpaige
8:30 pm on Sunday, July 22, 2012
The purpose of govt is to grow and control. Govt seeks self preservation and growth like any other organism. It does all of this by providing services it thinks is needed or wanted. It is no different than what the federal govt does.
stacey
9:18 pm on Sunday, July 22, 2012
I think we finally have a real board of education for the Howell taxpayers and I am grateful. The old boards run by people like Sanasac (who coincidently was once board president, then contractor of the new schools built in Howell, now business administrator and also emergency management director...amazing right?), then Cerretani and Blood along with other old time board members allowed many things to go on in the Howell K-8 system and we are all paying for it now. Nobody was watching the store. I believe we finally have hard-working and realistic citizens to lead us for the future. I'd like to thank Mr Tim O'Brien, Mr. Miller, Mrs. Smith very much for what they have accomplished so far and hope they stay on.
Jim
1:34 am on Monday, July 23, 2012
Ok, All, the website is now competed, if just a draft, and looking for feedback.
http://www.taxpayerwaste.com/
Hopefully, this can be a platform to capture and report tax dollars being wasted and any ideas to spend more wisely. Visit, browse, submit the waste you see.
I am working on a live feed that can display the totals in graphical format on the home screen, but this was the best I could in the short time the idea was developed.
Promotion will be the next step after a "soft" launch here....
Jeanette Smith
8:15 am on Monday, July 23, 2012
Jim, nice website! You want to know about me . . . I am a housewife of 19 years. I have a degree in Business Administration and Economics. I have 3 sons, 2 are now adults and 1 is in high school. I am a resident that chose to become informed, volunteered at both our schools and on board committees and attended meetings for 15 years prior to running for the board. I am not a politician. I am a public servant (unpaid) trying to do the work "of the people, by the people and for the people". I do not pretend to have all the answers and I would love to have more participation by the community in order to better serve the community. I hope your website will help me do that.
BTW, Howell doesn't have any residents running for our two Freehold Regional seats on the board in November. Perhaps someone here or reading your website would be willing to run a write-in campaign.
Jeanette Smith
9:47 am on Monday, July 23, 2012
Stacey, thank you for the kind words. It is nice to know that some are watching and seeing what we are trying to accomplish!
Jim
3:08 am on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Thank you to all who have visited http://www.taxpayerwaste.com/
We had over 4,000 hits on the first day alone.....including about 40 from the US Government......hmmm....is that good, bad, or just suspicious....Anyway, as I am knew to web design, please send any feedback through the Contact form on the site as I anticipate to continue evolving it into a more functional source of information and platform for addressing waste that most everyone here is aware of....and I am not.....so, please submit your waste here.