BOE Member Deborah Orme Explains Her "No" Vote

When the Parsippany Board of Education voted Wednesday night to use $1.25 million in new state school aid for immediate property tax relief, one board member voted no.

Board member Deborah Orme said she would like nothing better than to cut property taxes. She insists her vote was with the taxpayer in mind. But Orme said she had to consider much more than the immediate present.

"The reason I cast a no vote is because we have a sound budget in place this year that maintains all our programs with only a 0.8 percent tax levy increase to our taxpayers. My goal is to attempt to craft a 2012-2013 budget that also maintains all our programs with the least impact to our taxpayer as possible," she said. "With a 2 percent tax levy cap in place, $1.25 million goes a very long way toward keeping the programs we value."

Orme said that with the additional state aid gone to give tax owners an approximately $26 reduction to their fourth quarter property tax bills this year, the $1.25 million will not be available to help reduce the funding that must be raised to cover the 2012-13 budget.

"With the 2 percent cap in place, we are likely left with only two options going forward," she noted, "have the total tax levy for our 2012-2013 budget potentially be $1.25 million higher then it would have been had we retained those funds or, possibly have to come up with 1.25 million in cuts.The goal toward a zero tax levy increase for 2012-2013 that maintains all our programs is now $1.25 million more difficult to achieve."

She said the opportunity to retain programs next year in conjunction with potentially cutting the ta of reducing the tax levy for 2012-2013 seems worth more than a one-time $26 tax reduction. 

And despite being the odd member out, Orme said she respects the decision the rest of the board made.

Board member Fran Orthwein understands Orme's position. In fact, she almost voted along with her.

"I went to that meeting thinking that I would vote to carry over the additional aid to next year.  I had and still have concerns about the instability we have experienced with state aid the last couple of years," she said.

There was one thing Orthwein had not considered, however: "There's the possibility that the state could conceivably take the $1.25 million back."

At the Wednesday board meeting, Superintendent LeRoy Seitz spoke at length about the possibility that Trenton could cut state aid next year and put Parsippany's school district in a precarious fiscal position.

Orthwein said she believes the BOE will be able to craft a 2012-13 budget within the mandated cap, thanks to a projected $3 million surplus that will be used for tax relief in the 12-13 budget, a new law forcing school employees to contribute more to their health benefits and further savings. 

"In an ideal world, I would have loved to restore some of the cuts (elementary media specialists, et al) we had to make," she said. "But we knew that we would have to live with those cuts for up to five years, and it would be detrimental to restore those programs without being absolutely certain that we can fund them over the long term."