At Town Meeting, Mayor Takes on Disparities in School Funding

Although Mayor James Barberio acknowledged he had no control over the state's school funding formula, it was the centerpiece of his Town Hall meeting Wednesday night that drew about 200 at .

At the meeting, Barberio expressed anger that Parsippany only receives about $1 million in state aid while neighboring districts get much more.

"Dover, $42 million budget, gets $22 million...Roxbury, $11 million gets $6 million. Randolph, $79 million, they get $10 million," Barberio said.

According to the mayor, the reason why an affluent town like Randolph gets more money is because it borders Dover, a lower-income district.

Since that was the case, Barberio said, "I wish we could buy 2 acres in Newark and call it Parsippany."

"This has become unsustainable," he said.

Barberio acknowledged that he had no control over school funding but added, "I get a lot of calls about it."

He drew applause when he urged the crowd to lobby the state to change the funding formula. 

When resident Judy Foster asked, "Can we get a petition? Can we storm Trenton? What can everyone do?"

Barberio replied that the public should contact their legislative districts.

The mayor also talked about steps the township has taken to increase savings. He said white-collar workers in the township have not had a raise in four years and he hasn't made any new hires. 

To offset insurance costs, which account for a $1.6 million increase in the budget this year—albeit one which the state waived in its property tax on municipalities, Barberio said the township has paid $70,000 for a "wellness coach.''

That job is to help employees lead healthier lifestyles, at a potential savings of up to $500,000.

He said the town was also saving money through shared services, such as an agreement to have East Hanover pay Parsippany to share its animal control officer and earning about $60,000 to share its health officer with Hanover.

An earlier version of this story quoted the mayor as saying Roxbury had a $6 million budget and received $11 million in state aid. It should have read that the budget is $11 million and aid is $6 million.