Haddonfield School Board Considers Foregoing April Budget Referendum

The Haddonfield Board of Education is considering foregoing the annual budget referendum in April because of a new law approved by Gov. Christie this week.

The law allows for three options to forgo budget referendums and to move school board elections to November. Christie imposed a 2-percent cap on budget increases for school boards and municipalities last year. Now, if schools stay within the 2-percent cap, the governor will allow budgets to be approved by the board without a referendum. There are no municipal budget referendums.

Local school officials said they are considering foregoing April elections because it can save about $20,000 by holding them during general elections in November.

"The impetus for the entire bill is as a cost savings for towns," Steve Weinstein, the school board president said this week.

The date of the annual school election may be moved to November with the adoption of a resolution by the board of education or the governing body of the municipality, according to a statement from Christie. 

Alternatively, a ballot question would be presented to a school district’s voters for their approval if a petition is filed with the board of education, signed by not less than 15 percent of the number of legally qualified voters who voted in the district at the last presidential general election. The district would then hold a vote on the petition in the subsequent November election.

A district that has moved its annual school election to November would not require voter approval for a base budget, but any proposal to exceed the 2-percent tax-levy cap would be presented for voter approval in November. District board members elected in November would take office at the beginning of January. 

“This bipartisan tool-kit bill finally gives real pathways for school boards or voters to move district elections to November, providing the bright prospect for both local government savings and increased voter participation in the process," Christie said. "With this legislation now law, I urge school board members and voters in every one of our districts to act as quickly as possible to take hold of these benefits.”

Assemblymen Louis Greenwald (D- Camden, Gloucester), who represents Haddonfield, was a co-sponsor of the bill.

April school elections have consistently posed problems. They usually fall  around the April 15 federal tax-filing deadline and can sometimes be scheduled during school breaks.

Haddonfield voters approved the $31.9 million school budget last year by a nearly 73 percent margin.