Voters in three out of four school districts approved school construction referendums totaling $35.6 million on March 14. The three approved proposals were from Burlington County (Edgewater Park and Palmyra) and Monmouth County (Eatontown). In Camden County, voters rejected Berlin Township’s proposed spending.

A 2001 state law limits special school elections to five specific dates a year. These four proposals represented the smallest number of school-bond referendums held on a single day since the law was enacted.

State Funding More than $13 million (out of nearly $17 million) of the approved construction is eligible for state funds under the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act of 2000. The EFCFA legislation appropriated $6 billion to fund 100 percent of school construction in the special needs, or Abbott districts; and another $2.6 billion for grants to fund a minimum of 40 percent of state-determined ‘eligible’ construction in all other districts. Because the grant funding has been fully allocated, the state’s 40 percent share would need to be funded through annual installments of debt-service aid, which is authorized by the Legislature in the annual state budget.