UPGRADES APPROVED
Ewing passes referendum for tax hike and school security and building improvements
EWING » All public schools in Ewing Township will become safer and more secure.
That’s because Ewing voters Tuesday night approved a referendum authorizing a modest tax increase to help finance $59.3 million in districtwide school improvements.
Less than 7 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in Tuesday’s special election, with 1,190 voting for the referendum and 422 voting against it, according to unofficial Mercer County Clerk’s Office data posted online. Ewing has 24,459 registered voters overall. While the vast majority did not participate in the process, enough voters came out in favor of the referendum to secure its passage.
All five schools in the district — Antheil Elementary, Lore Elementary, Parkway Elementary, Fisher Middle School and Ewing High — as well as the district’s Gusz Maintenance Building will each receive security upgrades and roof restorations or replacements due to the voter-passed referendum.
Karen McKeon, president of the Ewing Township Board of Education, in August issued a community letter saying the district needed the bond referendum because the district’s systems and aging facilities had operational issues and were no longer serviceable in some cases. “It is prudent and cost-effective,” she said, “to raise funds to revitalize and improve our buildings now through a referendum.”
Nearly 74 percent of the voters agreed with her sentiments Tuesday.
The voter-approved referendum means the district will modernize fire alarm systems in all five schools and create a districtwide communications alert system. The district will also expand camera systems and implement security enhancements on classroom and building doors, according to district officials.
Ewing High School will undergo major renovations, receive asbestos abatement and a bevy of interior and exterior structural improvements and receive improved parking facilities and drainage controls thanks to the referendum passing. The other district schools and the maintenance building will also receive key renovations under the referendum, according to the bond proposal.
Tax impact
By passing the referendum, Ewing homeowners can expect a property tax increase. The average township homeowner will pay an additional $100 in school taxes, according to district Business Administrator Dennis J. Nettleton, who gave a ballpark estimate earlier this year.
But Nettleton said the estimated tax impact would be “largely mitigated by our disappearing debt service,” which has sharply decreased and ultimately zeroes out in the 2020-2021 schoolyear. The disappearing debt, Nettleton said, has contributed to Ewing property owners receiving an average $123 school tax cut this year.
Voters in other nearby school districts have recently approved school-improvement referendums.
Lawrence Township voters in January approved a property tax hike to finance over $25 million in districtwide school improvements. Lawrence homeowners will pay an estimated $30 more in annual school taxes for every $100,000 of assessed property value due to the referendum’s passage, officials previously estimated.
Hamilton Township voters in September 2017 overwhelmingly approved a $55.4 million referendum to implement districtwide school improvements financed by a property tax hike. The average Hamilton homeowner will pay $47.83 more in annual school taxation as a result of the referendum’s passage and a favorable net interest cost, officials previously said.
Princeton Public Schools is pursuing a referendum in the near future as officials there seek $130 million in districtwide school improvements. The Princeton referendum calls for a new school building to be built for fifthgraders and sixth-graders and for Princeton High School to be expanded.