Facility use fees are part of larger crises

Many residents attended the last Millstone Township Board of Education meeting to protest the school district's plan to implement facility usage fees.

Property taxes are high, the economy is bad and families' and community organizations' resources are overextended, but such fees are now commonplace in communities across America. More important, the school district has enough financial problems without having to foot the utility and maintenance bills for non-school-related activities taking place in the schools.

The school district, which operated under a spending freeze and with a dangerously low surplus during the last school year due to multiple failed budgets and frozen state aid, simply can't afford free or low-cost community use of its buildings any longer. Why should those involved in recreational activities continue to use school facilites for sports and meetings at little or no cost while Millstone students now have to pay to play sports and participate in extracurricular activities?

While many are making the argument that the school district is robbing Peter to pay Paul, we believe it is fairer to charge those actually using the facilities more than to spread the increasing cost of facility use across the community through taxation. With teachers having to pay out-of-pocket for classroom supplies, schools not having enough money to purchase necessary books and the school district more heavily relying on the fundraising efforts of its PTO, PTSA and the Millstone Township Foundation for Educational Excellence for school programs, it is no longer feasible for groups not affiliated with the schools to use district facilities without paying enough. We do encourage the school district to be sensitive to community groups' needs and just recover the costs of facility use, not make a profit.

Part of the blame for the current situation also lies with past poor township management, which resulted in the creation of a township recreation center at Wagner Farm Park that only has half a basketball court and inadequate storage for wrestling mats.

Finally, this issue is just another reason why it is unacceptable that New Jersey leadership has not followed through on adopting a new school funding formula that is more equitable for all school districts across the state.

New Jerseyans care about the education of their children and are also justifiably in need of property tax relief and reform. We need a school funding formula now that not only addresses the needs of at-risk students but also takes into account the escalating costs of providing education to special needs students and the dramatic growth occurring in suburban school districts.

Residents need to stay informed and involved, not only by attending local Board of Education meetings but by continuously pressing legislators for a desperately needed solution to our school funding and property tax crises.