New Jersey School Boards Association

Annual Bond Referenda Survey: 2000

 

Multiple Attempts

 

Twenty-three (23) of the 89 construction questions on the ballot during 2000 represented school districts’ second, third, fourth and, in one case, fifth attempts to gain voter approval of building/renovation projects.

 

 

 

 

2000

 

% Passed

(# Passed)

1999

 

% Passed

(# Passed)

 

All Referenda

 

77.2%

(68.66* of 89)

 

 

71.3%

(63.5* of 89)

 

1st Attempt

 

 

79.8%

(52.66* of 66)

 

71.7%

(43 of 60)

 

2nd Attempt

 

64.7%

(11 of 17)

 

62.5%

(10 of 16)

 

3rd Attempt

 

66.7%

(2 of 3)

 

87.5%

(10.5* of 12)

 

4th Attempt

 

100%

(2 of 2)

 

0

(0 of 1)

 

5th Attempt

 

100%

(1 of 1)

 

 

 

NJSBA looked at construction proposals in the school districts where referenda passed on the second, third, fourth or fifth attempts.

·         Cost of proposal: 10 of the 16 successful questions reflected cost reductions or reductions in scale from earlier versions; 3 involved increases in project scope and/or cost; in 3 others, the costs and the scope of the projects remained essentially the same.

·         Ballot question: 6 of the districts also split their proposals into two or more separate ballot questions; their earlier proposals had consisted of a single question.

·         Facilities Act: 9 of the 16 construction proposals that succeeded after multiple attempts passed after the enactment of the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act.   (In comparison, 4 of the 7 proposals that failed after multiple attempts went on the ballot prior to enactment of the facilities legislation.)

 

 


*     Fractions indicate split results in districts where referenda included more than one question.