BOE Fires Back at Committee, Claims Budget Criticisms Politically Motivated

The auditorium was the scene of angry backlash Tuesday night as members of the Barnegat Board of Education responded to accusations made by the Township Committee last week that the school district is unfairly holding onto surplus funds.

Board members took turns at the microphone criticizing the township for with a planned budget under-run – claims the board of education says are off-base, politically motivated and driven by worries about a new state law that could allow the district to avoid an annual budget referendum.

“All their statements are inaccurate, inept and show a lack of understanding for school accounting,” said board President Lisa Becker. “As a member of the community for 22 years, I’m embarrassed that people who represent the taxpayers of this community would get up at a public forum and make accusations that there is something irresponsible about planning and saving and doing more with less on the bottom line of budgets that have been presented to the community.”

Becker said that in her four years on the board, careful budgeting even in years of deep cuts in state aid has helped the district bring down its tax levy and still spend less than planned, allowing the schools to build up reserves.  

“We saved, and we planned,” she said.

Now, Becker said, the township is facing the reality of a new law that gives communities the option to hold school elections in November and eliminates the school budget referendum if spending increases less than 2 percent. Gov. Chris Christie signed the bill into law earlier this week.

That means the township can no longer count on cutting funds from an overturned school budget, Becker said.

“They can no longer take money from the students to plug their budget,” she said. 

In its press conference last Wednesday, the Township Committee said its own examination of the board's latest audit revealed nearly $3 million in surplus and a budgeting strategy designed to set aside extra money – money the township said should be returned to taxpayers immediately. In tough economic times, township officials said, the school board should be running leaner.

But board member Bob Houser also pointed to the new election law as the catalyst for the township’s accusations. 

“Less than two days after the bill was passed, they hold an emergency meeting to attack the school district,” he said.

He said the district’s fiscal responsibility was clear, pointing to cuts in staffing that saved hundreds of thousands and helped reduced the school’s share of taxpayers' total bills by 8 percent.

“What you must understand is that the majority of the Township Committee’s strategy was to push for the voting down of the school district budget so that, history has shown, the township could keep the children’s money for the township of Barnegat,” Houser said.

Other board members criticized the Township Committee for going on the attack when the township has consistently been late in making its required payments of collected tax revenue to the schools.

Board Vice President and finance committee chair Denise Pilovsky claimed that since 2009, the township has made late payments 61 times. In the 2011-12 school year, the body has been late on 22 out of 25 payments, Pilovsky said.

“They tried to hide their financial problems by putting the blame on someone else,” Pilovsky said. “Stop spending and start saving like we are.”

Board member Joe Cloke said the township has fallen short in other ways. “Most of the time they didn’t pay in full,” he said. “We’re owed over $44,000 in rec league fees. Where did it go? Where is the money?" 

The board also criticized the committee members for holding their press conference out of the public eye – even saying they could have been in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act – and then not showing up to the board’s meeting when invited.

“Not one of them is sitting here to answer for what they said at the press conference,” said Becker. “They know they don’t have anything to say and no facts to back up their statements.”

Members of the public shared the board’s frustration.

“It really does speak volumes to me that the people who made these accusations against you aren’t here tonight,” said Barnegat resident Sara Faust, one of several attendees who spoke in support of the board at the meeting.

The fact that the township made claims of fiscal irresponsibility while making late payments concerned her, she said. “If I don’t pay a bill, there’s repercussions – I’m in trouble,” she said. “I’m proud of you guys, and I didn’t know anything coming into this.”

A representative from the district's auditing firm, Holman & Frenia, also spoke up. 

"This is the first time I've been asked to come to a meeting to explain why it's a good thing or a bad thing that a Board of Education has too much surplus sitting on the bottom line," said auditor Michael Holt. "It's amazing to me."

Holt reiterated what he said his firm concluded in its most recent audit – that the board had successfully set aside money, some of which would be returned to taxpayers in accordance with state law. The district can only keep up to 2 percent of its expenditures.

"Anything above that is called excess surplus," Holt said. This year that amount was $1.4 million, "which will be used as tax relief in the 2012-13 budget."

Scott Sarno, a former board member and husband of board member Lauren Sarno who served as campaign manager for several sitting members of the board, said he felt politics were behind the township’s accusations.

A few months ago, he said, he joined board member Bob Houser in meeting with Committeeman Martin Lisella and Township Administrator Dave Breeden to discuss a planned school board ticket, and he and Houser were pressured to submit to the township’s picks for board candidates.

“They gave us an ultimatum,” Sarno said. “They said ‘Put your people on our ticket, or else.’ We walked out of that meeting and said, well, I guess it’s ‘or else.’”

Now, he said, he feels the board members are facing retribution for not playing along.

Houser agreed that politics are poisoning the two elected bodies’ relationship, which started out a good one when voters put fresh faces on the Board of Education four years ago.

“We said we were not going to allow this Board of Education to become political. We don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat or an independent sitting up here,” Houser said. “Unfortunately, the Township Committee wants it to be political.”

Township Committee members disputed many of board's arguments.

Committeeman Lisella flatly denied Sarno's version of their recent meeting, calling Sarno's accusations a "total lie." Lisella said Sarno and Houser came to him to tell him not to support Frank Caputo's bid for a Board of Education appointment.

Caputo was appointed in September to fill the seat of Elaine Taylor, who resigned from the board over the summer.

"I told them I would support who I wanted to support," Lisella said.

Barnegat Mayor Al Cirulli said politics had nothing to do with the township's decision to call the board on the carpet for its surplus.

"There’s no political advantage for us to bring it up," he said. "We knew about it and they didn’t tell the public, and we felt we’d be complicit in hiding this. We felt they needed to explain it to the people."

He also rejected the claim that township felt threatened by the elimination of the annual school budget referendum.

"We haven't spoken about anything like that," he said. "If I don’t have to ever get involved in their budget, I’ll be the happiest person in the world, and so would the rest of the committee."

Cirulli said he considered the issue closed. "At the township meeting, we will not discuss Board of Education issues," he said. "If someone has a question, they need to go to the board. I will not allow this to continue."