We urge all voters in Dennis and Middle townships to take the time to cast their ballots in the school board referendums being held on Tuesday, Sept. 17, in the two townships.
More than just your vote on each town’s referendum question is at stake. A strong turnout sends a message that voters will not fall victim to anti-democratic tricks that seek to increase property taxes when most voters are not looking.
There was no demonstrated nor credible need for taxpayers to have their funds used for a special election on Sept. 17 when the General Election ballot could have contained the school referendum questions only seven weeks later at no additional taxpayer expense.
The “need” was each school board’s hope that a low-turnout special election would increase the chances that their referendum measures would pass.
What this special election says is that the two school boards feel that the majority of voters will not support a permanent increase in the school tax, so the election needs to be scheduled when it has the best chance of missing the majority of voters. It is a strategy that circumvents, rather than seeks the will of the voters.
In Dennis Township, incredibly, the school board is asking voters to add a permanent $2.2 million to the school tax levy. If the referendum measure passes, the dollars will become part of a new tax levy base on which all future tax rate increases for school district budgets will be based.
The money, Dennis school officials say, is desperately needed to return the school system to the level of services it enjoyed in 2023, before the voters rejected a previous referendum measure asking for $1.9 million in increased and permanent funding. That increase was denied when it appeared on the General Election ballot. It appears to represent a “lesson learned” by the school board to avoid the General Election ballot.
In Middle Township, voters are being asked to approve a $26.5 million bond proposal that would expand pre-K education, move second graders from one school building to another to accommodate that pre-K expansion, add on to two school buildings and engage in athletic facilities renovation, with much of the funding going to new synthetic turf for Memorial Field at the high school.
Taxpayers would be substantially adding the cost of debt service on a 20-year bond to the school tax levy base for the entire period of repayment. In Middle Township, the school tax already is better than 50% of the total property tax bill. This would be in addition to the annual increases in the school tax that support the operating budget.
A recent public forum on the referendum question saw almost all public comment opposed to the bond issue. Township residents questioned the safety of synthetic turf and the need to expand pre-K, arguing that this is a bad time to increase taxes given the impact that inflation has had on household expenses. They also argued against taking on new debt, especially for the new turf at Memorial Field at a cost of more than $4 million.
Middle officials have changed the narrative twice about why a special election is necessary. First we were told the projects could not absorb a seven-week delay if groundbreaking was to happen next summer. Then, at the district’s public forum, that rationale was consistently attacked. Only then did Superintendent David Salvo admit that he did not want the referendum measure on the November ballot, because such placement would make the issue political.
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Those who concocted this subterfuge have
forgotten their place in our democratic society.
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Regardless of how you feel about the proposed plans from Dennis and Middle township schools, we urge that you register your feelings by voting. Raising taxes by a substantial amount in times of hardship and rising energy prices should not be a decision left to a small number of individuals. It should be a decision placed in the hands of all voters at a time when most voters will see, understand and partake in the decision.
The hope to avoid full public scrutiny is the worst feature of special elections. They are sometimes necessary when delay truly is harmful. This is not one of those times.
Those who concocted this subterfuge have forgotten that they are in place to do the will of the citizens, not their own will. Their deception is obvious.
