Community Corner
The $19.8 million dollar 20 year debt and the Comptroller's Alert
Every motion, every policy, every dollar spent must be made carefully- school board members should ask themselves every time they sign something, every time they vote: Is this motion/action in the best interest of both the students and the taxpayers? If there is any doubt, the motion or issue should be tabled for further review.
In 2008, when the proposal for green energy came about in the Lacey Township School District, I was happy to hear the news the District was moving towards green energy. I had been reviewing the bills for a while prior to 2008 and knew that the electric bills were running over $100,000 per month, and that this one bill alone was well over $1.2 million dollars of the annual budget.
While I did indeed vote for green energy on the 2008 referendum, I did not vote for inaccuracy, oversight and gambling. It was a gamble for the District to try and generate revenue with SREC’s (Solar Renewable Energy Credits). While it was not legally required to bid out for the professional services, common sense would dictate that if a firm was going to receive compensation in excess of one million taxpayer dollars- that project should go out to bid- law or no law. All administration and board members have a fiduciary responsibility to the public. People in Lacey are up in arms because I am trying to recall the only 2 Board members currently eligible for recall of the 5 that remain from the days of the solar project approval. (The recall law has been on the books since May 1995.)
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The public trust was broken on March 11, 2014 when the State Comptroller’s Office released their Alert after a 3 year investigation into the purchase and implementation of the Lacey School District’s $19.8 million dollar solar project referendum of December 2008. Did the Board really think there would be no repercussions after this Alert was released? I waited 3 long years for the results.
This was not something to shove under the rug.
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Since Lacey was not named in the Alert, I went to Trenton to be absolutely sure the case cited was about the Lacey School District. I confirmed it was. All the numbers in the Alert matched the Lacey project.
The word “failed” was used several times in the Comptroller’s Alert. Taxpayers do not need people who fail us. When students fail, they get an “F”. Board members and administrators who fail us, at the very least, should apologize to the public for what happened. Instead, the District releases “a pat on the back” Response to the Comptroller’s Alert on their website. Talk about spin.
I commend the research in the some of the comments that follow:
Read for yourself here the Comptroller’s Alert:
http://www.nj.gov/comptroller/news/docs/comptroller_alert_31114.pdf
And then read the School District’s response and draw your own conclusions.
Stay tuned. There’s more to follow. No taxpayer needs people who overbond $8.2 million dollars and then pat themselves on the back for it. Thanks for the 20 years of debt. If anyone wants a copy of the $19.8 million dollar bond repayment schedule, I will be happy to send it. Email me regdiscenza@hotmail.com
And for those that accuse me of failure- at least I try. That's more than most people do. The lack of attendance at public meetings in this town speaks for itself. Why are so many people afraid to be seen and hide behind pseudonyms? The bottom line? No one cares about public funds if they are part of the problem....
