They boasted that it had among the lowest tax rate increase in Northern Valley. They bragged that it had the best programs for each student at the best possible cost. And last week it failed by 10 votes.
The Cresskill 2008-2009 school budget made history April 15 in several ways – losing by a handful of votes and experiencing the largest non-referendum voter turnout since 1990. Voted down 594-584, the election results also marked the budget’s third consecutive year of defeat.
But whether the moment should be deemed a "triumph" or "tragedy," that would all depend on whom you ask.
Tax-laden residents like 35-year Jerry Scelzi voted "no" for the budget saying, "enough is enough."
The retired resident and advocate for the senior citizen population canvassed the entire borough in the days before school elections day, encouraging all residents to vote. What he discovered on a trip to the Senior Citizen Center, he said, were residents struggling to make ends meet.
"There’s a lot of people that live paycheck to paycheck and can’t pay to buy food,’" said Scelzi. "There isn’t any more money to be given up."
Scelzi said he doles out as much as $11,000 in property taxes — pennies compared to some homeowners on Rio Vista that pay up to $30,000 a year in taxes. "Those increases never stop," he said. "Can we continue on this path?"
The Board of Education did not exercise fiscal responsibility in toting a 3.55 percent tax increase, when cuts could always be made, said Scelzi. His opinion might be that of the other 594 residents rattled by the idea of paying an additional $222 in taxes for the average $525,000 assessed home.
For the other 584 that voted "yes" for the budget, disappointment the day after elections weighed heavily on faces.
"I’m sorry, Mary, after all the work you did," said Merritt School teacher Marie Papaleo to Mary Klein in the school gymnasium. The teacher touched the shoulder of the co-president of the Home and School Association and leading organizer for last week's "Earth Week" events.
"The whole thing is maddening," said Klein, who was volunteering for the sixth-grade "Recycled art project" program.
Most parents who voted in favor of the $22.8 million school budget feared that a defeat would endanger educational programming and reduced class sizes at the elementary schools.
Through groups like the HSA and Korean Parent Association, parents conducted registration and phone drives. The superintendent and school board similarly held budget hearings and advertised the budget using the school Web site and newsletter.
"And the vote came out ‘no,’" Schools Superintendent Charles Khoury said.
The superintendent now rides on the slim hope that "voting irregularities" exist because of a malfunctioning voter machine. Khoury notified parent groups two days after the elections, citing that at least eight parents were turned away from voting.
"Dr. Khoury has informed us that we must have a total of 11 names to definitely impact the election results," wrote HSA member Deedy Clark in an e-mail to parents.
Mayor Benedict Romeo said that of the voters who were told to come back to the polling site, all returned and voted. "So no one missed the vote," he said.
Bergen County Board of Elections Superintendent Patricia DiConstanzo confirmed that she found no case after a brief investigation of the polling site.
State law dictates that the Borough Council must now review the defeated school budget. Council members have the option to approve budget cuts, or to set precedent by adopting the budget as is.
A precedent does not seem likely either, according to Romeo.
The borough plans to hire Joseph Martin, a third party auditor who assisted the borough the last two years. Martin will first consult with the school to ensure that "we’re not hurting the kids," said Romeo.
"I don’t want this thing on my plate, but we got to cut it," he said.
