Local ballot measures, New Jersey

Recent local news Princeton Voters to Decide $10.9 Mil School Referendum Watchung Council OKs Final Referendum Wording New Milford 'Field of Dreams' Goes to November Ballot Hillsdale voters want their say on dispatch issue, Petition submitted to put police dispatch outsourcing question on ballot in Hillsdale Petition would put Mayor Lorenzo Langford's salary raise to a vote Board of Ed Addresses Upcoming Bond Referendum Ocean City voters decide to keep their town dry Margate cancels Firehouse No. 2 project; plans to put $600,000 project to voters in fall HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP: Voters soundly defeat sewer referendum, Guest Opinion: Hopewell taxpayers should reject sewer referendum Glo. Twp. sued over petition Council Hires Lawyer for Edison Redevelopment Petitions New Jersey Voters Approve 90% of School Districts' Budgets Medford Referendum approved, council delighted, Medford Township residents approve tax increase above 2 percent cap Many NJ school districts move voting to November Residents File Petition for Referendum with Clerk's Office Sample Ballot for Tuesday's Election Contains Error, Lawrence Municipal Budget Introduced, Stage Set for Tax Increase Referendum Defeated, School bond referendums / Scary trend, Voters in Galloway and Absecon will decide on bond referendums Tuesday Ocean City Council rejects BYOB ordinance, setting up May referendum Galloway Township school district wants voters to learn about $7 million bond referendum Medford man petitions for trash pickup Vernon salary increases to go to voters Vineland moves school election to Nov. Sewer bond vote slated for May 8, HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP: Officials preparing for sewer bond vote, HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP: Citizens’ effort forces vote on sewer measure, HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP: Anti-sewer bond group successful petition drive yields 1,700 signatures Absecon to vote on $2.7 million bond referendum Voters Approve Referendum, BOE Hires Search Firm in Week's Top Local News, Fort Lee Votes Again: School Bond Referendum Today Turf field project will be on Park Ridge's April ballot Will You Attend a BOE Community Forum Meeting Prior to Voting on Jan. 24? Upper Township to vote on $16 million in repairs for schools Vote no and no on school bond referendum, Strathmere Elmwood Park and Lyndhurst voters reject ballot questions on school construction, Elmwood Park to vote Tuesday on school overhaul plan Galloway voters reject school referendum; Greater Egg Harbor voters split on roof, heating projects, Galloway Regional, local schools seek bond issues to fund repairs Referendum to fix Lyndhurst schools voted down, Tuesday's vote critical in deciding fate of Lyndhurst's educational future Petersburg School board going back to voters with revised referendum for school repairs Two Princeton Towns in New Jersey Vote to Merge Governments Longport library referendum fails at polls by 7 votes Little Falls voters to weigh in on open-space tax proposal Point Pleasant Beach will vote on tourist parking issue ...more local news School bond and tax votes See also: School bond and tax elections in New Jersey New Jersey is one of two states that require voter approval for a school district's annual budget. The budget must be approved by voters during a specially designated school election in April. Also, New Jersey strictly mandates that if any school district seeks to do capital improvements must have the approval of the district's voters. All bond funding is guaranteed through the New Jersey Public Schools Loan Assistance Fund. In order to keep operating, the State of New Jersey must have $105 million on hand at the bare minimum to issue bonds during every fiscal cycle. Also, a ballot question is required if a school district seeking to exceed its levy limits does not get authorization from the New Jersey Commissioner of Education to exceed its limit. A three-fifths (60%) super majority is required for levy limit elections while bond referendums require a simple majority. New Jersey School Elections, April 20, 2010 There were a large number of school budget and tax increase measures on the April 20, 2010 ballot in New Jersey. Of the 479 proposed budgets, only 260 passed, giving credit to the Mayor who urged voters to reject their school budgets after he cut school money. The state faced a large deficit and as a result school spending was greatly reduced, leading most school district to try and cover the lost costs with larger budgets and increases in property taxes. The state budget deficit is estimated at around $10.7 million with the cuts to the schools around 5 percent. Some school officials came out to say they believed the high rate of defeat was largely due to the Mayor and his words to defeat the budgets, leaving most of the issues to the local level. Voter turnout for the election was also much higher than anticipated larger than any previous school election. Further cuts are expected, most school officials though are unsure what will end up being cut, staff and programs. Board officials are trying to negotiate as best they can to ensure as many jobs can be kept as possible. It was noted that this is the largest defeat of budgets since 2006. A resident leaving the polls responded to why he voted no, stating that the teachers need to do the same as other companies, cut back and cut down. While some residents could not understand why small increase in overall property taxes would be defeated if it meant securing the future of kids in schools. It was also noted that resident had more knowledge about the school elections than usual, leading to the higher amount of turnout for the vote.

Local elections 2010 March 9 • April 20 • November 2 2009 April 21 • May 12 • November 3 • December 8 New Jersey counties Atlantic • Bergen • Burlington • Camden • Cape May • Cumberland • Essex • Gloucester • Hudson • Hunterdon • Mercer • Middlesex • Monmouth • Morris • Ocean • Passaic • Salem • Somerset • Sussex • Union • Warren

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