Cedar Grove Moves School Elections, Eliminates Budget Vote

The Cedar Grove Board of Education voted to adopt provisions of a new state law and move annual board elections to November at their Jan. 24 public meeting.

, which was signed by Gov. Chris Christie last Tuesday, allows school districts that vote in April to change their election date to coincide with the November general election, and bypass voter approval for budgets that do not exceed the statutory 2 percent cap on property tax hikes. Districts making the change would be bound to the new schedule for four years.

Both Cedar Grove and Verona's Boards of Education met last night with the new law on the agenda. Verona opted to discuss the issue further, and has scheduled a vote for its next meeting on Feb. 14, while Cedar Grove unanimously and enthusiastically passed a motion to approve the changes.

"This is exciting and something I've long been in favor of," Cedar Grove Board of Education President Frank Mandala said at the meeting.

Board member Laura Marinelli called the changes "fantastic" and "long overdue".

Both Mandala and Marinelli's three-year terms were set to expire in April, tonight's vote extends their terms by approximately six months.

Other members expressed their hope that eliminating the need to campaign for the budget's passage each year would free up time for the board to focus on more important issues facing the district, and save taxpayer dollars on costly campaigns to get the budget passed.

"The budget roll-out will not change, we will not lose transparency. We will no longer have to have this vote hanging over our heads, and will save money on consulting fees in the long run. This will be very, very good for the town," Board Vice President Joseph Cicala said.

Christine Dye assured the audience that the board's ability to pass budgets without voter approval shouldn't send the message to the taxpayers of Cedar Grove that the board will stray from its goal of fiscal discipline.

"This does not mean it's open season to go above the 2 percent cap. We'll start with zero and see what the costs are and go from there," she said.

Cedar Grove residents voted down three of the district's last six budgets.

Even though the Verona Board of Education did not vote on the issue last night, Board President John Quattrocchi said he would favor a move to adopt provisions of the new law.

"As much as I want to have control over public spending, it doesn't make sense to limit voting to only one of the five pieces of every Verona resident's tax bill," he said.