BY PATRICIA KELLER
WEST MILFORD — The West Milford Board of Education approved a resolution last month against a proposed change in the funding formula for Passaic County Technical Institute (PCTI).
The proposal would shift the tax burden to the county budget rather than the current per-student tuitions. This board petitioned the Passaic County School Boards Association to lobby the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Passaic County Executive Superintendent of Schools and other area school districts on its behalf in order to maintain the funding formula currently in place.
Shifting the burden
The resolution is a direct result of previous discussions by the school board that were initiated by Trustee Steve Drew. Drew proposed, researched, and revisited the issue at several meetings of the board of education prior to recommending that the board draft an official stance on the matter in writing to stakeholders and lawmakers. Following these discussions and a motion for such action made by Drew, the school board requested in July that board attorney Joseph Roselle draft a resolution/letter stating that the West Milford School District supports the PCTI funding formula currently in place, and does not support the proposed change to the funding formula that would shift the tax burden to the township’s municipal budget rather than being funded by individual student tuitions by the school district.
The resolution states “…the Board of Education recognizes that the Passaic County Technical Institute provides a valuable service to county students interested in furthering their education in the technical and performing arts via nontraditional and focused teaching methods and services…”; but the school board does not support change to the alternative funding proposal.
Currently, all Passaic County school districts provide funding to PCTI in the form of tuition for the number of students attending from their district. This funding through tuition comprises the majority of PCTI’s $71 million yearly budget.
Additional tax
According to Anthony DeNova III, the Passaic County administrator, this proposal is not coming from the county freeholders but from school board members in different districts in the county. Districts that send more students to PCTI, for the most part, would see a decrease in their costs overall. But West Milford sends just 50 students to the county school. The net increase to township taxpayers is projected to be $787,813 each year, according to the county.
Under this proposed formula, West Milford’s share of PCTI’s budget would be incorporated into the county portion of the township’s budget, rather than being a part of the school district’s budget per student tuition. This change would lower the school district’s responsibility for PCTI tuition, but drastically increase the township’s budget. The mayor and township council also oppose this proposal.
The vote
During the vote process, Trustee Marilyn Schultz asked for clarification of the resolution.
“If you vote yes, you’re saying you want it to stay the way it is now, where we pay PCTI tuition based on the number of students we send," explained Drew. "If you vote no, you’re saying you want to shift that cost plus an additional million dollars to the town, so that PCTI will be funded through town budgets based roughly on percent of population in Passaic County, as opposed to how many kids we send. So yes means leave it the same, and no means increase our taxes.”
The school board approved the resolution via a majority vote, with Trustees Drew, Teresa Dwyer, Jim Foody, and Marilyn Schultz voting yes; Rodney Robbins originally voted no but changed his vote after Drew's explanation; Trustee Greg Bailey voted no; Trustees James Devor and Debbie O’Brien abstaining from the vote due to concerns of conflict with their personal employment. Trustee Glenn Huber was absent from the meeting.