Hi Charlene - you have sent in a lot of letters about this subject and I have asked a question but you have not answered it so I will ask again. Does the figure of $6,200,000 take into consideration the fact that a lot of the state aid WMRHS gets back is because of WT (WRMHS got back over $4,000,000 in state aid) If it doesn’t could you please adjust it to reflect that fact (that would make the number way lower). If it does, please let me know as I am trying to get my facts correct. Thanks.

Charlene, very well said. This issue has been going on for years and I was shocked that they want to form yet another committee to discuss this issue. Mayors, get your heads out of the sand and stand up for what your taxpayers want. I want to see our governing body at work for the people.

(fret) I'm not sure what to think until Jeff Emery/Domino wades in...

Another troubling issue has been the lack of transparency. Taxpayers were told by the mayors that the last meeting would be open, but then it was closed even after a Patch poll showed the majority calling for an open meeting. Now the mayors have decided who to include in their committee and who to exclude. So the committee has been hand selected and taxpayers remain onlookers and nothing more.

Not only are the mayors dragging their feet, but they seem to be making one bad decision after another by intentionally excluding their largest group of stakeholders. Any astute observer would conclude that the mayors are hoping the issue dies a slow death as the public heads off (again) for the summer.

It is truly sad to see how little regard the majority of the mayors have for the way they spend their constituents money.

Jean, here's the answer to your question in two parts:

According to the Office of School Funding of the Division of Finance of the NJ Department of Education, the State has awarded a total of $4,369,441 in aid to the West Morris Regional High School District for 2012-13, broken down as follows: $1,746,337 in special education aid, $1,342,442 in transportation aid, $701,273 in equalization aid, $366,482 in adjustment aid, and $212,907 in security aid.

Of the five components of state aid, only the equalization aid is calculated based on a community's socio-economic level. Transportation aid is based on students transported. Special education aid is based on special education students. Adjustment aid and security aid are proportional to total student enrollments.

For simplicity, let’s assume Washington Township is responsible for bringing in 100% of the equalization aid to the district and that the district's transportation aid is spent at each high school in proportion to each school's transportation expense. We also assume that any future special education aid will continue to be allocated in proportion to each school’s special education expense. Adjustment and security aid will continue to be proportional to enrollments. Additionally, 52.4% of the district’s high school funds are currently spent at Central High School, 47.6% at Mendham High School.

Therefore, if the regional district were to be divided in a first step towards the formation of two K-12 school districts as proposed by CBS, the new Mendham/Chester high school would lose 47.6% of the $701,273 in equalization aid, or $333,806. Concurrently, the Mendhams and Chesters would cease transferring their current annual subsidy to West Morris Central High School -- eighteen times the amount of lost state aid.

CBS would be pleased to have Washington Township keep its state aid.

Charlene, do you have some compelling personal financial disaster that is responsible for this obsession? Is saving (maybe) a dollar a day really worth becoming the Official County Skinflint? As soon as Christie is out, the usual NJ "Kill the One Percenters" crowd is going to slaughter districts like Mendham in state aid and affordable housing and millionaire's taxes and every which way. The answer to taxation is not dividing every district into tiny "Just Me and Charlene and Buffy's kids" and giving every time-on-their-hands soccer mom a personal principal in administration overhead. If you have so much time on your hands get a job at Quikchek and send your kid to Mo-Beard. You'll need a haircut.

SpecialEd- perhaps your comments (and hostility) should be directed at the folks who are unwilling (and have not offered a single concession) to pay the same amount per student to educate their children in the school district as the Chesters and Mendhams?

And on a separate note, if you are the parent of a child with special needs, how much extra money are you contributing to the school district to provide the required services that your child is receiving? Nobody in the school district is asking you to cover those costs, so please don't tell me (or Charlene) how to spend our money.

Barbara -- I do not have children paid for by the district, so you and Barbara have no "debate leverage" on my children. OPRA away. If you have kids being educated in West Morris, I am paying for them. Do you?

How "you and Charlene" spend "your" money is of no consequence to me, although I'd like to see the W-2 and how much the two of you ladies (individually) suffer under the yoke of government compared to most of us.

The path to lower taxation lies in consolidation, not slicing down districts and raising overhead. So the Chesters and the Mendhams form their own district. Maybe in a few years Charlene and Barbara look at Chester Boro and don't like the demographics there -- how tawdry, all that immigrant stacking downtown. Better split off again. Maybe six years from now Governor Booker knocks a new Mt. Laurel down your teeth and you have a garden apartment warren next to the Black Horse Inn. Can't have that. Get out the picket signs again. Mendham Boro isn't paying their fair share now. NOW how many nurses, administrators, principals, etc do we have?

Honestly, get a life. Go volunteer at a hospital. Or maybe rescue afghan hounds, that seems more likely. Whatever. I hope you never have something serious happen in your life to you or your loved ones to make you look back and see the perfect tool.

Guys...we are REALLY close to the line here. Love the debate. Love the passion. Just PLEASE try to keep the jabs out of it. I don't want to have to delete any posts because you both make good points.

CBS - Did you stop to think that maybe you are hurting your cause more than helping? How you write about Washington Township is inulting and bullying. Some of the meetings and planning should be behind closed doors, it isn't like they don't "HEAR" you! Do you want a screaming child in a board meeting? How productive would that be? To have a meaningful meeting with adult discussion and debate requires class, something that a screaming child hasn't learned yet, thus should not be included!

This woman never has anything nice to say about Washington Township. The best we can all do is not even acknowledge anything she writes its always all about her.

SHE WANTS NOTHING BUT TO CAUSE HATE AND DISCONTENT AMONG THE MUNICIPALITIES.

The issue is not nice vs. not nice. The issue is about a lack of transparency on the part of the governing bod(ies), deliberate foot dragging, and WT's unwillingness to make the necessary concessions to create a more equitable funding formula.

And when it comes down to screaming children, it seems that all the screaming, bullying and name calling is originating right in your back yard.

@Barbara I would not believe everything this woman writes. The Mayors are investigating I would like to hear what they have to say.

Hey gang, crazy idea here: at the May 10 meeting on this issue that is open to the public, we should have a big coming out gathering where we wear our name tags with our screen names and then all meet in person and go to the diner and have pie. Then we could actually talk about all this over pie.
I think that would be fun. We could all talk and have pie. I can't help but think that our level of discourse would jump up if we were all in person. And each person would grow to understand where the other one is coming from.

Just a thought....

I'll be the guy in the hat...

@Russ how about coconut cake thats my favorite. PS LIKE ON EVERYTHING SPECIAL ED SAID.

Lets state some facts, all the info is in the Morris Co Tax Site. A house in Chester T. 3700 sq ft, 2 ac property pays about $16,000 in taxes, Wt pays a little more for the same size home. A 8200 sq ft on 5 ac home in Mendham pays $49,000 in taxes. The discrepancy between the 2 schools lies in that there are more LARGE estates in WMM that are 8200 square feet, therefore making the CBS numbers deceptive. Be careful what you wish for, in a few years there will be a new committee in WMM: the people in the BIG houses complaining that they are subsidizing the 'smaller' homes.

Income tax redistributes the imbalance of wealth. The school levy on property tax was meant to educate the children in YOUR town. Maybe your governing body should raise your assessments, then your tax rate won't look as high. At the end of the day, you have to cover your costs, which you are currently not doing. Why ask another town to do it for you? Would you be willing to send $6.2 million to Hackettstown?

Barbara why should a home with no children pay any school taxes? Come on already, I am sorry that we seem to be a burden to you and you can't afford your tax bills. We didn't make the current system! If there is a way that our students' programs are not cut and our taxes do not go higher, by all means separate our districts and be done with the likes of you! Maybe our leaders ate trying to find an answer that doesn't hurt any of our students. Yours are no more deserving then ours.

@Russ. I'll take you up on your pie, but we'll need these handful of Mendham gadflies who are living beyond their means to show up with some microscopes and gram scales so the pie cut is Painfully Fair At That Moment In Time.

@Barbara. WT does send millions to Hackettstown schools. The are a DE District Factor and WT is three factors higher, an I. You are a J. Hackettstown gets school aid from taxes paid in by WT. The West Morris district also gets school aid because of the inclusion of "I" DF WT.

Your property tax school levy is NOT to pay for the education of school children in your town. It is to pay for the education of school children in your DISTRICT. If every little town had their own district, BOE, superintendent, principals, vice principals, nurses, etc, the NJ education system cost would be even more insane than it is. And if you really want that model, get prepared to have your income taxes skyrocket as every neighborhood in Newark and Camden divides into their own little village.

Then your state income taxes would go through the roof. Wait, you and Charlene never mentioned what you pay in income taxes?

@Leta: You have hit the nail on the head. I think this tempest in a teapot is caused by 6-8 Mendham households living over their head in their property taxes. Maybe we can start a charity? One of those blanket coin tosses for the Arringtons and Barbara?

Guys...love ya...please keep toeing the line of civility. Thanks.

SPECIAL ED YOU ROCK . @ Russ I can eat coconut custard pie.