BORDENTOWN, NJ – Bordentown Regional School District administrators and representatives from various firms used a public forum on Monday to describe leaky roofs, inefficient HVAC systems, cracked sidewalks, and to explain why district voters will see an $86.1 million referendum question on their ballots on Election Day.
“We have to do (this) work. That work has to be done,” Bordentown Regional School District Superintendent James Altobello said, noting that if the school district made the repairs by allocating $1.5 million to such costs in the , “80 years from now, we'd be done.”
“Most of the infrastructure is original to the buildings. Now (Bordentown Regional High School) is the newest building, and it's 20 years old,” Altobello said. “Then we have four other buildings… Those are much older facilities. Most of the infrastructure, the guts, are original to the buildings. Aging equipment is costly to repair, certainly costly to operate.”
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According to Altobello, if the referendum passes,
“There is no vanity in this referendum,” Altobello noted. “I've worked in districts where, as part of referendums, we're building sports bubbles. As part of referendums, we're building new administrative offices. We're redoing the facades of all of the schools to make them look pretty. None of that is (happening here).”
Roughly a third of the $86.1 million would come from the State of New Jersey, according to Altobello and some of the others at the meeting.
If the referendum passes, those in Bordentown City who own a home assessed at the municipal average of $206,218 would see a $38 monthly tax increase; those in Bordentown Township who own a home assessed at the municipal average of $243,967 would see a $49 monthly tax increase; and those who own a home in Fieldsboro assessed at the municipal average of $208,879 would see a $35 monthly tax increase, Altobello stated.
A member of the public at the forum asked how long that tax increase would be in effect, and Sherry Tracy of Phoenix Advisors, a municipal advisor to the district, said about 20 years.
Altobello, while acknowledging the financial hardship, noted that funding the projects through a referendum could potentially provide more funding in non-repair-related school district line items.
“Right now, let's say we're spending $400,000 a year on HVAC repairs. If two years from now, we're only spending $160,000 a year on HVAC repairs, that opens up $240,000 in the operating budget,” Altobello said. “That money doesn't disappear… Every dollar that becomes available now can be for instruction and curriculum and for advancement and program and things of that nature.”
Another member of the public asked about the fire alarm system that would be installed if the referendum passes.
Jason J. Dubowitch of the architectural firm Fraytak Veisz Hopkins Duthie answered that while the current fire alarm system works fine, “It is a non-addressable system. What we want to put in is an addressable system. The difference between the two is pretty simple. When the fire truck comes up to the front door, they can see that there's a fire in a certain section of the building. Under the new system, the more devices, the better, and they show exactly where the fire is and help them get to that spot more quickly.”
A TAPinto Bordentown reporter asked how long it would take to complete the projects funded by the referendum.
Ted Hopkins, also from Fraytak Veisz Hopkins Duthie, responded, “You're looking at 95% would be done in a couple of years… There might be some outliers and some other issues that you might take on, but I think that's a pretty good timeline."
In response to another member of the public’s question, Hopkins said that while it is hard to predict how much the products needed to complete the projects could cost in the future, there are contingencies in place for increases. Hopkins also said that there will almost certainly be competition among contractors and builders for many of the projects, which will also likely keep prices reasonable.
Altobello said he is frequently asked why repairs were not made sooner, and he said district staff has always done the best it can within the confines of the school district’s annual budget.
More information on the proposed referendum and the projects it would fund if passed can be found at .