The Bloomingdale school reverendum vote will be held on March 11
NorthJersey.com
BLOOMINGDALE — Voters will decide the future of the borough’s schools in a March 11 referendum on whether to close and sell Samuel R. Donald Elementary School and expand Walter T. Bergen Middle School to house grades one through eight.
The plan is centered on a $22.6 million bond sale, with district officials planning to pay the debt off through an estimated tax increase of about 2% for property owners on top of the Samuel R. Donald School's sale.
If the referendum is approved, the resulting project would add 16 classrooms to Walter T. Bergen, renovate 10 existing spaces and create a second gymnasium and a full-service kitchen.
The redesign also calls for an elementary wing for grades one through five, a move that would bring the town's fifth-grade students back to an elementary setting for the first time in more than 20 years.
The two-story expansion would be fully ADA-compliant, with student and faculty restrooms on each level, according to district records. A bridge would connect the two buildings, with a grassy recess area below, records show.
Security upgrades are also planned, including the relocation of the main office. Additional renovations include a new loading dock and a tech lab on the lower level.
The proposal and resulting referendum follow years of study on how to address the district’s aging infrastructure, namely the 106-year-old Samuel R. Donald School. While the brick schoolhouse with its marble urinals has charm, district officials say it is woefully inadequate for educating students. The cost to renovate it to modern standards has been pegged at $21 million, and the project would require the school's students to be relocated out of town or in trailers for four to six years, they said.
The other main option identified in a 2022 facilities assessment was to close the school and expand the Walter T. Bergen School. Determined by district officials to be the more practical path, the options have been the subject of plan-refining meetings with stakeholders, financial advisers and the district consultants at Gianforcaro Architects, Engineers & Planners of Mount Arlington.
The district estimates that consolidating to one school will generate savings of about $275,000 annually through the elimination of duplicate positions and reduction of utility and maintenance costs. Michael Nicosia, the district superintendent, said the savings will effectively offset the cost of the repayment of the staged bonds over 27 years.
"Savings from the closure of the SRD school will be solely dedicated toward tax relief," he said.
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In addition to the sale of more than $22 million in bonds to raise capital, the district plans to use $4.2 million from its capital reserve account and revenue from the future sale of the Samuel R. Donald School to fund the project. Estimates place the property's value at $5 million, a ratable that could help generate roughly $125,000 in annual school tax revenue, officials said.
If a developer seeks to repurpose the land under a Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, program, the mayor has pledged — pending borough council approval — that all generated funds would go to the school district, according to district officials.
Given the potential to refinance the bonds and apply proceeds from the property sale to keep the tax impact stable, district officials maintain that the referendum's impact on taxpayers would be a one-time adjustment rather than a recurring increase. For a homeowner with a $10,000 property tax bill, the annual cost of the project would be about $200, they said.
Residents participating in the Senior Freeze Program would need to pay the tax increase initially. However, according to the district’s auditors and the borough's tax collector, the amount would be reimbursed as part of the program’s regular process, district officials said.
Voting will take place in person on March 11 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked or received by that date. The deadline to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot is March 4.