The Haddonfield Board of Education is set to vote Tuesday on an agreement of sale to buy the 19-acre Bancroft property on Kings Highway East.
The vote is scheduled in a special meeting at the borough middle school at 6 p.m.
The BOE and the borough have entered an agreement of sale with Bancroft after a decade of public debate. The parcel is seen by many as an oasis of possibilities in this nearly built-out, 300-year-old town. The public purchase of the land will allow a kind of manifest destiny to annex it to the adjacent Haddonfield Memorial High School campus and preserve parts of it for open space.
The public purchase option was among three presented to borough residents last year after another in a series of exhaustive planning studies Haddonfield has commissioned was released. Other options were age-restrictive and market-rate housing.
A $16.9 million public referendum on the financing of the sale has been a lightning rod for public debate on the merits of the deal. The referendum is set for Jan. 22.
Critics of the plan have questioned the $12.2 million purchase price for Bancroft, a center for the developmentally disabled and acquired brain injuries. Opposition has also mounted for nearly $2 million of the cost being earmarked for build an additional athletic field and resurface the football stadium field, both with artificial turf.
Questions have also been raised about why the referendum will be held in January instead of November, during the general election.
An appraisal of the Bancroft parcel released last week values it at just over $15 million. The amount raised some eyebrows of critics because it nearly doubled the assessment value from a 2005 appraisal. That appraisal was just released in July after borough officials kept it private as part of a negotiating strategy for the past seven years.
School board President Steve Weinstein said the new appraisal came in higher because it allowed for more density of housing and also used comparable recent sales in South and Central Jersey to compare value. Weinstein also said the January referendum was needed because approval of the purchase by the state Department of Education is a lengthy process that would not have been completed by the general election in November.
Weinstein also said a private fundraising effort to pay for half of the resurfacing of the high school field and an adjacent field owed by the borough is expected to be completed before the referendum and could reduce the the total cost of the project by $800,000. The borough is also seeking open-space grants from Camden County and the state that could further reduce the amount of the referendum, Weinstein said.
The grant applications has been contingent on a signed agreement of sale.
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And where is all the outrage for taxpaying paying $1 millon a year to fund pensions in the township budget. Would you rather have new facilities for our students and residents or pay for retirement benefits? It's hypocritical to complain about high taxes when a large share of our taxes does nothing to benefit us. It's also hypocritical to complain about high taxes when we elect the failed leaders to represent us in Trenton who only take from us to give elsewhere leaving us to foot all of our own bills. If trenton sent us back a small share, this project wouldn't cost us another dime. Where's the fairness in our state for our town? We pay and pay and pay. What do we get back?
Town health insurance = $1.7 million. BOE insurance = $5.4 million. Total taxpayer expense = $7.1 million and you are gonna sit here and tell us that this project is what is forcing people out. How much do we pay Camden county and for what? Stop with the excuses. Is the few hundred really the problem or is it we get none of our money back from Trenton and have to pay for others retirements while our facilities and kids suffer? If lower property taxes are the goal, I will listen to your ideas on how to make it happen.
I think that a purchase like this that is paid for over time at lower interest rates that solves a multitude of problems is worth it. It's certainly worth more than paying for healthcare and pensions that deliver us no value. What are you doing to lower our taxes and preventing people from being forced out? I would argue that investments in our town, our community and our kids are good ones. Investing more in payroll or paying the county 27% of our taxes does nothing to enhance the value. Things cost money. Not maintaining or investing also costs money. How much of the cost will be offset from other sources? What is the true net cost to the average homeowner that has your panties in such a bunch? Haddonfield spends $1 million a year for pensions. That's more than this project would cost. Which is more valuable to our community?
Our schools are excellent and the value of them is why people live in our town despite it being in corrupt Camden County. Should we never invest in ourselves just everyone else?
Also, last year Haddonfield's taxes went up an average of $552.51 and Tavistock's $1,732.06. When Steve Weinstein tells you bancroft is worth 15.1 million dollars common sense has to kick and tell you he's trying to justify the 12.2 million. It's worth half that. Buy the land at fair price. I don't have a say in Camden County's 27% tax but I do with 12.2. I don't know this stuff because I'm a genius, trust me on that. I know because people all over town send me credible information for Haddonfield United. Check the site out and decide for yourself. I knew about bancroft, its environmental problems and its worth from people who worked there for years. They were right. I understand how some people are sick of seeing me posting all the time, sometimes I am too. Neither one of us has any idea how much that Bancroft project will wind up costing us. If you trust the people running the show more power to you. I don't.
Explain to us why the taxes went up that much last year and why?? Was it because of capital investments or pay and benefits? You do have a say in Camden's taxes. you can not vote for the Freeloaders. I would rather you or John answer my questions about how much the plan will cost net of debt service reductions and revenue offsets and why this cost is such an important one when no one cares about the high taxes and structural causes in the various budgets. I get it you are opposed but you are making financial arguements that quite frankly you cannot back up especially relative to the waste and fleecing going on under our noses.
We get it. You don't like the deal. You think it's too much. I asked you to quantify what too much means net of all other variables ie debt service reductions and revenue offsets ie open space, grants, fundraising, future revenue streams. Isn't there a financial case we can review? If we are talking about a multi million transactions that solves many township issues and enhances the community and kids and it only costs a few hundred bucks a year, that is a hell of a lot more worthwhile than all of the other nonsense expenses we will be paying in the next 20 years.
you think? Go on the NJ.com website for our taxes and for every town in jersey. You don't want to believe it, knock yourself out. You want to find out where all the money for the tax rise went? Pick up the monthly expenditures at the borough meetings and go on the preservation haddonfield site, they list the costs and who got what. Don't ask me to do the homework, you do it. You'll see where your money is going and why the tax hike. As far as John or I telling you how much the plan will cost net of debt service reductions and revenue offset, we'll need you to look in your crystal ball and tell us what will finally get built there. Affordable housing? Sports complex? University? Open space park? When you start to take Bancroft down when kind of environmental problems will you run into? Read the Bancroft agreement and you'll see what's there. If you can answer these questions for me, sell me on Weinstein's appraisal and convince me they'll be no budget overrun, I'll vote with you.
Brian I like where you are going with some of this. We agree more than you think. I am not trying to sell you Weinstein's appraisal. It's either legit or its not. If not, why not sue to stop it for fraud? As for the plan, I do support it. I don't believe the sky is falling because of capital investments that generations can benefit from. I do however object to any more spending on healthcare, pensions that do not deliver anything tangible to us. The BOE budget had zero increase this year. The borough budget went up 135 bucks for a 7.5% increase due to a non cash spending item due to I assume tax appeal victories. No I am not happy about that. Did it break the bank on me either? No. When I see healthcare and pensions totalling $2.7 million for our small town, that gets me annoyed. When I see we are even having this debate when we pay $60 million a year in taxes, that gets me annoyed. Over next decade, we will pay more than half a billion dollars in taxes probably 70% for payroll and we are arguing over $12 million that will solve many problems. Over next 10 years, we will pay more in taxes for healthcare - probably $100 million than this could ever be worth but in 10 years, we would still have the assets. a 10% savings in healthcare costs and this deal is paid for at no cost to the taxpayer.
I also don't like any waste but to be so focused ONLY on what you consider this waste is what I call hypocritical. Im happy to help you attack other budgets and spending when applicable. Let's start with the Federal Government....they spend $3.8 trillion a year and take in only $2.5 trillion. Not very smart!! Here are the budgets. I know where the money goes. I guess you didn't since you are so unwilling to share your data. No one wants to answer the question about the financial case. If total debt service is being paid down by 3.5 million a year, all debt will be gone in the next 5-7 years. The 3.5 million in spending can be used to reduce taxes or pay the bancroft debt. It is not incremental expense over the 20 years. I am also willing to bet in 20 years pension and healthcare costs will triple causing taxes to rise. What are we prepared to do about that? http://www.haddonfield.k12.nj.us/BOE/Attachments/UserFriendly%20Budget%202012-13.pdf http://www.haddonfieldnj.org/pdf/2012_Adopted_Budget-State_Approved.pdf
I'd be willing to bet just about everyone agrees with you when it comes to government spending. We both have our sources from in and around the borough as to where we get our info. Even if I disagree with something you say, I respect your opinion and your right to say it. It's all about the debate. You'll notice Bill Tourtellotte and I have gone at it in the patch and since we're both such polar opposites in view it's important to know in cases like that truth often lies in the middle. Sometimes two people can have opposite views and neither is wrong. The main thing is to state what you believe and keep an open mind. Thanks for the info, we'll get in on the page.