Westfield BOE Moves Election To April, Allowing Public Vote On Budget

WESTFIELD, NJ — In an effort to avoid making additional staff and teaching cuts in future years, Westfield's Board of Education approved moving its elections to April, which will allow the public to vote on the yearly budget.

The board unanimously voted to approve this shift in election timing at Tuesday night's meeting. Giving the public a say in the budget approval will allow the district to raise the state's 2 percent property tax levy cap.

The approval of the most recent 2022-2023 school budget came with a lot of controversy, as the board decided to cut several teachers and staff members — many from the arts department — due to a $2.3 million budget shortcoming.

Read more: Westfield Schools Layoff Arts Educators Amidst Budget Cuts

This shortcoming was partly due to the state's 2 percent tax levy cap. Under state law, the district is only allowed to increase the levy by a maximum of 2 percent.

Since May, the Board of Education has discussed moving the Board election from November to April to allow taxpayers to vote on raising the tax levy. In turn, this could help the board retain teachers' positions, as they would have more money in the budget.

Business Administrator Dana Sullivan explained that before 2010, the district budget was voted on annually by the Westfield community. At this time, the average tax increase was around 4.9 percent.

Then in 2011, the state reduced its aid by 65 percent, which resulted in reductions in excess of $4 million made to the Westfield Public Schools operating budget.

In addition, the state placed a 2 percent cap on tax levy increases for districts opting out of a community vote on the district budget.

According to Sullivan, up until this year, the district was able to maintain the 2 percent cap while making minimal reductions to staff and programs.

However, two years of a global pandemic, supply chain shortages, rising costs in health benefits and transportation, as well as other expenditures, has severely impacted the district's overall revenue.

"We [need] to ... come up with a solution that would allow the school district not only to stop having to make any tough decisions about what to reduce when it comes to our schools but more importantly how to maintain and expand the programs, offerings and support for our students," Superintendent Raymond González said.

González also said it will cost the board around $40,000 to run its own election in April. In this election, the community will vote on three new board members, as well as the approval of the budget, according to González.

If the budget is defeated or rejected by the voters, Westfield Town Council would determine the final tax levy in May. However, if the board objects to the reductions made by Town Council, they can appeal to the Commissioner of Education.

Board member Amy Root assured the community that moving the election date is unrelated to extending their terms on the board.

"If anyone had any concerns that we're trying to extend our own terms, our focus is on the budget," Root said.

Under this measure, current board members' terms that were set to expire in Dec. of 2022, 2023 and 2024 will be extended to April of the following year.

Board member Robert Benacchio said he feels moving the election is a necessary action to take, but it is not a permanent solution to the district's budget problems.

"I feel like this is treating a side effect, not the problem," Benacchio said. "We still have mandates from the state that are going to attack our budget and force us to spend money on things that maybe don't make a lot of sense."

Benacchio also expressed concerns about voter turnout, explaining that people tend to be more motivated to vote in November and fewer people may be paying attention in April.

On the positive end, Board member Sahar Aziz said this vote will be "empowering for the community," as they will have more control over the district's operating budget.

Nominating petitions for the election will now be due on Feb. 27, instead of when they previously were set to be due in July, González said.

With the approval of this time shift, the board election will now take place on the third Tuesday in April.

To view the entirety of Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting, check out the video on the district's YouTube channel.