Rumson and Fair Haven School Election Results 2011

Rumson and Fair Haven residents went out to the polls on April 27 to vote on their school district budgets and board of education members.

According to the Monmouth County Clerk Web site, the 3 school district budgets were approved. The results are not official until they are certified by the Board of Elections.

Rumson School District:

Out of the 624 people who came out to vote on the Rumson School District budget, over 64 percent, or 400 people, voted yes to approve the . 224 people voted against it.

This means the 2011-2012 operating budget will be $13,585,149. The total tentative budget is $14,793,821 including special revenue and debt service, which is $458,732 more than the 2010-11 school year budget. The total tax levy is $13.84 million. That means that residents will have to pay 44.3 cents per $100 of assessed property value, resulting in an additional $100 per million dollar assessment.

As for the Board of Education, the Rumson School District had 5 people running for 5 open seats, according to the school’s business administrator, Denise Friedmann.

Those open seats for three-year terms are now filled by Colleen O’Connor of Lenox Avenue, Colleen Hodge of Monmouth Avenue, and Kim Swain of Rumson Road. O’Connor is an incumbent and the current president of the BOE. Hodge is also an incumbent, and Swain was appointed to the board in March 2010 to fill a vacancy. Peter Jarck of Ridge Road, who is also an incumbent, was elected for a two-year term. The remaining fifth seat, a one-year term, was won by Margaret Kaminski of Hartshorne Lane.

Out of the 1,256 people who came out to vote on the RFH budget, over 66 percent, or 837 people, voted yes to approve the 2011-12 school year budget. 419 people voted against it.

The total passed budget including general fund, special revenue and debt service is $17,225,797. The tax levy is $15, 056,632, which is $165, 095 more than the 2010-2011 school year.

This means that the tax rate for Rumson residents will decrease by $1.41 per $100,000 of assessed property value. So if your home in Rumson is assessed at $500,000, you will see a decrease in overall taxes by $7.05. Fair Haven residents will see a tax increase of $10.92 per $100,000 of assessed property value.  That means that if your home in Fair Haven is assessed at $500,000 you will see an increase of $54.59.

For the RFH Board of Education, there were 3 people running for three open seats, two of which were incumbents. The incumbents who were re-elected are Jane Pattwell of Rumson and Lisa Waters of Rumson. One newcomer was voted onto the board: Charles (Chuck) Volker of Fair Haven.

Fair Haven School District:

Out of the 629 people who came out to vote on the Fair Haven School District budget, over 69 percent, or 436 people, voted yes to approve the 2011-12 school year budget. 193 people voted against it.

The passed budget is $12.2 million for the 2011-12 school year. The school budget calls for a tax levy of $11.8 million for Fair Haven residents, which amounts to an increase of 1.6 cents per property assessed value of $100—or $16.26 per $100,000 of assessed value. That means a homeowner with a house at an assessed value of $600,000 will see an increase of $97.56 in taxes.

The only race was in the Fair Haven School District, where four people were running for the three open seats that are each three-year positions. According to Business Administrator Valery Petrone, the four candidates were: Karen Saad, 45 William Street; Mario S. Venancio, 133 Buttonwood Drive; Cathy Alescio, 255 Oxford Avenue; and Elaine Lehnert, 209 Cambridge Avenue. Saad received the least number of votes with 18 percent. Venancio, Alescio, and Lehnert will serve on the board for the next 3 years.