Have you received your Cherry Hill property tax bill? Payment was due at the end of last month. And, if you’ve checked it out, you’ve noticed that more than half of your property taxes go to the local schools. More than half!
The Cherry Hill School District has an operating budget exceeding $272 million per year. That comes to more than $26,000 per student. Yet the national average for private school tuition is less than half that — about $12,000 per student.
So, the school district has plenty of money. They’re already collecting more of your property tax dollars than the county, the township, the fire district, the library and the open space fund combined!
But that’s still not enough. Now, the schools are asking you to cough up hundreds of millions more.
Yes, they want you to approve a bond issue (basically a borrowing plan) of $363 million that they say they need for the schools. That will increase your property taxes by an average of $400 every year for the next 20 years. And that’s without any other increases the school district will enact each and every year as history has shown the school budget grows annually. Check your annual tax bill. You’ll see that the budget and the taxes go up — not down — every year!
A few years ago Cherry Hill voters wisely turned down a similar school bond. But now the district is back for another try at an even higher price.
The special school bond election is scheduled for Thursday, October 6 — not Tuesday and not in November when elections are usually held. Remember: Thursday, October 6. The school district is hoping you won’t even notice there’s an election. In fact, they're only making their budget approval pitch to parents of school age children. And they're conveniently leaving you our of the loop. Yes, this approach is sneaky and snarky. But this way they figure they’ll get their voters out to approve the budget while you focus on other things. Don’t let this happen!
Right now, runaway inflation is costing you an extra $340 a month — and that’s a conservative figure! What’s more, New Jersey already has the nation’s highest property taxes and is one of the most heavily taxed states. This is no time to raise your taxes!
Vote NO! on the school bond splurge! It’s your money. Tell the Cherry Hill schools to do a better job of managing it! After all, you’re working hard to do more with less. Why shouldn’t they?
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