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Assemblyman Greenwald and Sen. Norcross see it as a way to save tax dollars

Legislation designed to save property tax payers money by permitting cities and towns to move their school elections from April to November is moving in the Assembly.

The bill ( A-4394/S-3148), sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader-Elect Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) and Sen. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), provides several methods by which municipalities can move their elections to November in an attempt to save money by eliminating the April school board elections.

“Politicians and pundits have talked about doing this for years, but special interests and inertia have prevented progress on this important issue—until today,” Greenwald said Thursday. “Empowering towns to move their school elections to November will give voters better control of their local finances while saving property taxpayers the costs of holding yet another local election.”

“This bill will save local towns and local taxpayers millions of dollars, by permitting them to eliminate the costs associated with unnecessarily duplicative elections,” Norcross said. “At the same time, more citizens will have a voice in the process, which is a win-win for our communities.”

Upon the adoption of a resolution by the governing body of municipality; upon the adoption of a resolution by the local school board, or; if a petition signed by 15 percent of qualified voters who voted in the immediately preceding presidential election is filed with the local school board.

Municipalities that successfully move their school elections to November would not be permitted to move their election back to the third Tuesday in April until at least four school elections have been held in November. For limited purpose regional school districts, each of the constituent local school districts must approve moving the election to November.

“Our legislation represents a big step on the road to true property tax reform,” Norcross said. “This bill provides the towns and the voters the tools they need, giving our communities a better say on their schools and their property taxes.”

“School finances are by far the largest chunk of a property tax bill and yet school elections consistently have some of the lowest turnout in our state,” Greenwald added. “This bill will allow towns to move their school elections to November, empowering more voters to make decisions on taxes and spending that directly impact their property taxes and their quality of life.”

The Assembly Appropriations Committee is expected to approve the measure Thursday.

—TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM