Pascack Valley Regional Special Referendum Cancelled For Oct. 2

HILLSDALE, NJ — Woodcliff Lake has requested a stay be placed on a planned special election to determine if the borough could withdraw from the Pascack Valley Regional High School District.

The special referendum scheduled for Oct. 2 has been cancelled, Hillsdale Mayor John Ruocco said.

Ruocco wrote a letter to residents Tuesday stating that Woodcliff Lake is seeking an indefinite stay on the referendum. Ruocco said Woodcliff Lake is exploring a "new course of action" with Montvale rather than going ahead with the Oct. 2 referendum vote.

"There is still a possibility that such a referendum could be held in December, which seems unlikely, or next year," Ruocco said.

Paul Zeller, a spokesperson for the Pascack Valley Regional High School District, would not comment on the matter.

In order for the referendum to pass, a majority of Woodcliff Lake voters, plus a majority of voters in all four towns combined, would have needed to approve it.

The outcome of the referendum would have significantly impacted "our children's education and materially increase resident's taxes," Ruocco said in a July 25 letter to residents.

About 25 percent of residents' taxes go to the Pascack Valley Regional High School District.

Woodcliff Lake tried to change the district funding formula to a per pupil rate via a referendum in 2010. Voters rejected it by a "wide margin," Ruocco said.

Withdrawing from the district and entering into a send-receive agreement with the regional school district could save Woodcliff Lake taxpayers more than $3 million annually, NorthJersey.com reported earlier this year.

Hillsdale and River Vale oppose the move and appealed to the state Supreme Court, which declined to hear their appeals, according to NorthJersey.com.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

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