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New home will cost less
(by Lisa Kintish - April 16, 2008)
The Montville Township Board of Education will finally have offices it can call its own, in a modular building, costing $1.5 million, that will be ready for occupancy by the fall of 2009. In the long run, taxpayers will realize savings of more than $3 million.
The new building will be constructed on BOE property behind the library and high school on Horseneck Road. The money for the construction is from a surplus in health-care benefits.
Christina Riker, school business administrator explained, “The Montville BOE utilizes a participating funding arrangement with Horizon Blue Cross. This type of funding arrangement allows for an annual accounting of claims/expenses versus premium paid. In policy periods where the premium paid is greater than claims/expenses, that results in a surplus and those monies are deposited in a Rate Stabilization Reserve.
“In policy periods where claims/expenses were greater than premium paid, there would be a deficit that carried into the Reserve account. Over the lifetime of this account, there have been periods when there has been a deficit in the reserve.
“We have been fortunate to experience a period of surplus over the past few years and are eligible to withdraw this money for the central office/special service building. Contractually, we must keep a certain amount of money in the account and are doing so. The Board has not received the settlement figure for the past school year, but we have been advised that we can safely withdraw the $1.5 million and the balance would sufficiently cover our contractual obligations to Horizon.”
The new building will replace the BOE’s current home at 328 Changebridge Road, which has been a source of contention due to its high rent. At present, the BOE pays $13,746 plus real estate taxes of $2,252 per month. The current lease expires June 30 of this year and has been extended for 18 months for the amount of $10,751.65 plus real estate taxes.
According to Riker, the tax amount will change at the beginning of August. The new building will save taxpayers approximately $3,400,000 in rent and real estate taxes over a 15-year period.
Gary Bowen, superintendent said, “In context of managing your personal finances and assets, the simple question is, ‘Would you rather own, or make payments to the landlord?’ The Board of Education and I feel that this recommendation to construct our own central administrative offices is the responsible, lasting solution.”
The Annual District Survey included a question: “These central administrative offices (328 Changebridge Road) should be owned by the taxpayers and not rented to save tax dollars over time. Accordingly, the Board of Education should appropriate the funds necessary to construct a permanent facility for the central offices.”
The response, as reported by Bowen, was: 54 percent strongly agreed or agreed; 33 percent were undecided or had no opinion; and 13 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed. There were 827 respondents to the survey.
The new offices will be about 8,000-8,500 square feet. Jon Alin, president of the BOE, observed that the space will be used to its best advantage. The special services office, which is currently housed in the “little building” will be incorporated into the new administration building.
Noting the need for a permanent home “as cheaply and as best we can,” Alin said the money saved on rent would be spent on children and education.
The Board moved into 328 Changebridge Road in August 2005 after vacating offices at Robert R. Lazar Middle School, which were converted into much needed classroom space. Various options for permanent office space were discussed and rejected over the past couple of years, including occupying the building at 86 River Road and putting an addition onto the current municipal building.
Lisa Kintish can be contacted at kintish@northjersey.com.
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