Appellate Court Orders Lower Cape May Regional to Pay Election Costs

TRENTON – The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court ruled March 4 that the costs of the Dec. 9, 2014 special election to permit Cape May City to withdraw from the district must be paid by the district itself. This decision affirmed the initial ruling issued by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, on Sept. 26, 2014 that required the Lower Cape May Regional (LCMR) School District to assume those expenses.
Last year, Cape May City acted to withdraw from the LCMR School District because they felt that the current school funding formula that is based on property values rather than the actual number of students a municipality educates, is unfair to its’ residents.
Cape May’s position was that the current formula requires Cape May City taxpayers to pay a disproportionate share of the district’s educational costs. The process of withdrawal led to court action and an earlier election that sought to change the school funding formula itself. Voters voted to retain the current funding formula at that time. The current legal issue is confined to deciding who is responsible for the costs of the special school election held Dec. 9, 2014 measuring the will of the residents within all district municipalities to allow Cape May City’s withdrawal.
The LCMR School District, Lower Township and West Cape May all argued that since only Cape May City would benefit from the withdrawal, that Cape May City alone should bear the costs of the special election. As for the election itself, residents of all municipalities, including Cape May City, overwhelmingly defeated the proposal by a vote of 5,078 opposed and only 470 voting to approve Cape May City’s attempt to leave the district. Some have estimated the costs of that special election to be nearly $40,000.
The LCMR School District’s position was partly based on N.J.S.A. 19:45-5 that reads in part: “Where any election is held in and for a municipality only, all costs, charges and expenses, including the compensation of the members of the district boards of the municipality and the compensation and expenses of the county board and the clerk thereof, for such elections, shall be paid by the municipality.” The district felt that this language means that Cape May City should pay for the election.
In rejecting this argument, Justice Harry G. Carroll noted, “While the statute is silent as to who bears the expense of the special school election, we determine that resolution of the cost issue is governed by N.J.S.A. 19:60-12 (emphasis added), which provides in relevant part that: “…We conclude that such costs must be borne by the school district and not the municipality that initiated the withdrawal request.”
The court cited the statute’s language that reads in part: “All costs, charges and expenses … for any school election held at a time other than the time of the general election shall be paid by the board of education of the school district.” The characterization of the election as a “school election,” and the fact that it was held “at a time other than the time of the general election,” seems, to some extent, to have caused the court to affirm the lower court’s decision.
The Herald reached out to LCMR School District Superintendent Christopher Kobik for his reaction to the decision. “We are of course disappointed in this result, but we respect the court’s decision,” Kobik said. He indicated that they will review the recent decision to determine what steps, if any, will be taken in the future; no decision to appeal or not has been made.
The Herald reached out to Lower Township Mayor Michael Beck for comment on this decision. Beck stated that the court decision was to be expected, and that essentially, it doesn’t matter how the taxpayers will pay for the election because “we will all pay in the end.” He added that he hopes that the City of Cape May will drop this waste of money because “our people are the ones being hurt by prolonging this issue.”
The Herald has not heard back yet from the mayor’s office or the city manager’s office of the City of Cape May for their reaction to the decision.
To contact Jim McCarty, email jmccarty@cmcherald.com.