School board's $5.6M financing to be OK'd
Stahl says arrangement saves taxpayers $200K
BY VINCENT TODARO Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — The Township Council has again postponed a vote on a shared services agreement that would allow the Board of Education to finance $5.6 million in purchases and projects.

The vote was tabled for the second time on June 22 as the council awaited documents from its bond counsel. However, officials said the initial confusion over the school board's intentions has been cleared up and they now support the measure. The agreement involves financing for items including school bus purchases, construction of a maintenance facility, Chittick School roof replacement, and concrete and blacktop repairs.

The shared services agreement allows the district to use the township's favorable bonding capability.

Mayor David Stahl said last week that he is satisfied with the answers he received from the school district and he supports the agreement. He said the district's use of the township's bond rate, which is about 1- percentage point lower than those available to the district, will save taxpayers roughly $200,000. The bond is for five years.

"I certainly have had answers [to questions that arose about the initiative]," Stahl said, adding that he and some of the council members met with Superintendent of Schools Jo Ann Magistro and School Business Administrator Bernardo Giuliana shortly after the June 8 meeting.

During the June 8 meeting, council members and former school board member Gene Ryan raised questions about items the district was seeking to finance and whether some had already been budgeted by the district. Councilman Matthew Korten said he wanted an explanation as to why his list of school board purchases was different from the township administrator's list.

Stahl said last week that the list has bounced around since former Mayor William Neary was in office last year, and that township Finance Director L. Mason Neely removed some of the board's noncapital requests that could not be funded through this type of agreement. Stahl said the items were included in two different school budgets, and all have been approved by the board.

"These budgets were adopted by the board, and the numbers matched up," Stahl said. "It all adds up."

If he felt there was anything questionable, he said, he would not support the agreement. He said some of the items have already been purchased through loans from Commerce Bank, but it is a wise move for the board to refinance those purchases because the township can secure a lower rate.

"Our loan is cheaper and will save them money," Stahl said. "And most of these projects were not previously funded."

Stahl noted that the municipal government is there to lend its borrowing power; not to decide whether the items are needed.

"So long as it was properly approved by [the board], we have no right to sit and say 'We do not approve,'" he said "It was approved in their budget, and every capital project listed on that has been approved by the Board of Education. We can't say whether it is a worthwhile list."

"It's our borrowing power that saves money," he said. "It's all the same taxpayers here, so let's save some money."

Councilman Mathew Korten said last week that he is satisfied with the answers he received from school officials during a recent meeting. He said his primary concern was that the list of items he received was different from that given to Business Administrator James White.

"Was it 10 buses, or 14? I had 10, he had 14," Korten said. It turned out that White had the correct number. In addition, Korten said he received a good explanation about items being purchased, such as the maintenance facility.

"The current facility is in a state of disrepair, and needs significant upgrades," he said.T

he shared services agreement is expected to return for a vote in July.