Courtesy of Ted Bell
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Frank S, in a comment on BF today said, “Since I am on a roll, here is another unrelated idea that also has historical precedent : Ocean Grove should secede from Neptune.”
Ocean Grove became part of Neptune Township in 1879 when Neptune was carved out of Ocean Township. But, despite that, Ocean Grove was, for most practical purposes, a separate town, although it’s home owners did pay property taxes to Neptune.
Frank S. is correct: There have been a number of times in the past when some citizens of Ocean Grove favored secession from Neptune. The closest they came to success was in 1920. Here is a portion of the Blogfinger Historical Timeline of Ocean Grove that covers that history:
1920. The Lessee Board is dissolved, and the Civic Betterment League is formed. Its goal is the creation of an independent Ocean Grove Borough. The CMA supports the idea, and the NJ Legislature passes an Ocean Grove Borough bill which creates an incorporated borough, apart from Neptune. Governor Edwards signs it into law, a referendum in town receives wide support, and local elections are held.
The new Borough of Ocean Grove operates for one year, but they retain the CMA “blue laws”. Opponents in town want things the old way and they form the “Lessees Association” They sue in State Supreme Court.
1921: The NJ Court of Errors and Appeals finds the Borough bill to be unconstitutional, because the Borough has allowed religious ordinances to stand. The Borough bill might have been upheld if the “blue laws” were discarded, but the CMA and its supporters refuse. The Borough is dissolved, and governance goes back to the CMA. This was not the first attempt to gain secular control of OG, but this one came the closest.
In 1980, the governance of Ocean Grove was turned over to Neptune Township because the CMA governance violated the law regarding separation of church and state. That was decided by the NJ Supreme Court.
If any of you want an emailed copy (free) of the BF Ocean Grove Timeline, just send a request to Blogfinger@verizon.net. Shipping and handling are free. Allow a while for delivery, and there will be no returns or exchanges. Note that this timeline is made in the USA.
Another issue is the 68 properties owned by Methodist church not paying any property taxes. This may mean the remaining residents may be taxed higher to cover this.
How to get that fixed ?
I think Ken just proved a further point that NHS is very misunderstood by people who have chosen to not send their students there. There is so much that is offered that the local parochials can’t compete with, due to lack of funding. I wish more people would wake up and give it a chance before they bash a school system they have not experienced.
Facing realities:
1. Ocean Grove homeowners pay more taxes proportionately than rest of Neptune Township. The rationale (?) : we are closer to the ocean.
2. The State Legislature (it would have to approve succession) has and will
entertain initiatives only to decrease the number of municipalities and school districts with their related administrative and overhead costs.
3. Ocean Grove could send its limited number of students to the best private schools in the county and still save money if it were independent. It could also
contract out police and public works efforts.
But it ain’t going to happen. OK Norm, so what should we do?
We need an advocacy-oriented organization (an existing one?) or a new group of respected, reliable individuals who would consistently evaluate the Neptune Township and school budgets and make public recommendations based on
their findings and on available expertise knowledge and resources.
Abbott, have you looked at the list of colleges that the graduates of NHS are attending published at the end of the school year? Somebody is doing something right. There are also families in town that have pulled their students from St. Rose and returned to NHS. They excelled and went on to very respected schools. Every high school in this country has behavioral and drug related problems. You get out of an education what you put into it, no matter where you attend.
Is there an awareness that ONLY Neptune High School has been selected to participate in a program with BROOKDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE which will allow some 25 qualifying entering students to take college courses in addition to H.S. requirements for 3 years. For the 4th year they will attend BROOKDALE campus full time. They will graduate from both and be eligible to attend a N J College/University as JUNIORS thereby saving their parents two years tuition. Maybe Neptune schools are better than urban legend has it.
Reminds me of the hospital in Neptune when I moved to OG. Then I told my wife if I get sick to get me to Hackensack Medical Center or a good NYC hospital: now Jersey Shore is a highly rated Trauma Center with a top cardiac care reputation.
Jamie: Please explain to me what you mean by “other progressive areas.”
Thanks, Paul
The facilities are wonderful; we swim often in the indoor pool and admire the green ribbon ness of it all.. The staff may be exceptional, but the lessons are very scripted. The program is my major concern. The early childhood program, “Tools of the Mind,” is great, but as the children progress in age, the program gets weak.
The curriculum is still rather traditional—the “banking” model popularized during the industrial revolution. Teachers deposit information to the children. I know that better models exist and that many children would thrive in them The constructivist model is one example. There is no reason why we can’t have a public Waldorf or Montessori school. They are thriving in other progressive areas outside of the Garden State.
Sal, that is the honest truth. Kids deserve more. Parents deserve choice. It is the one thing I can agree with Christie on. In my experience, I have found that smaller districts give bigger voices to the professionals who work there.
Facilities and technology are one piece of the puzzle; the bigger piece is what you do with them. No matter how you shake it, Neptune is as test driven as all the big districts surrounding us. It all comes down to cash.
The culture of standardized tests are ruining the culture and climate for learning.
I don’t think that the Neptune schools are getting the respect that they deserve. There are many dedicated teachers working in our schools. My children attended the high school and I have no regrets. They received a very solid education in an amazing facility with a wonderful principal.
I think that most people bashing our schools have never sent their children there. They have opted to send them to private school and therefore automatically believe that they made the right choice. I, like Sal, would like to know what exactly “they” find to be lacking and what facts they are basing it on.
For those who have any illusions that Neptune Township has even average schools, please follow the below link, which is a report prepared by the State of New Jersey. It shows, amongst other things, that, at the high school level, Neptune Township is ranked in the 25th percentile for Academic Achievement and the 18th percentile for graduation rate, relative to all high schools in NJ.
Beyond that, it is well established that — I’m being diplomatic — the culture of the school (e.g., behavioral norms, drug usage, etc.) are not consistant with a quality educational experience.
http://www.state.nj.us/education/pr/2013/25/253510050.pdf
So the thought to avoid taxes would be to pay for K – 12 private schools instead. When you say “but the schools” what exactly are you referring to? Be honest. What is the drawback? The facilities are great. The teachers seem dedicated. What about the schools concerns parents?
Wondering and Oldtimer,
The points you made regarding schools and potential population of young families are echoed daily in my conversations with the parents of my child’s friends. “Ocean Grove is fantastic, BUT the schools!” I am very interested in seeing Ocean Grove thrive.
A progressive Charter School would be great exposure for the community and a draw for young families. I have attempted to start one before and will try again if the interest is finally there. For the mean time, Avon School charges very little tuition and young families can also take advantage of the School Choice program and attend other schools in the area such as the Deal School.
Ken:
1) If OG could chose to affiliate with another school system other than Neptune — such as Avon’s, we could attract a much wider set of potential owners, since I’m sure the Neptune School DIstrict scares away anyone with kids who need to use the public schools. This would probably lead to an immediate 25% increase in our property values.
2) If Neptune has to agree to let us secede, we can forget about any further discussion. We are a gold mine cash machine to them and they will never let us walk away. I am confident that an analysis, which could be easily done, would find that OG contributes at least 2.5 dollars to Neptune for every dollar we get back.
Oldtimer I have observed Neptune Township’s Municipal government’s actions with both parties in charge and have observed mostly good practices. Neptune purchases through a County Program at favorable prices and financing. There have been some employee problems in the past; they were properly disciplined (even imprisoned). For years Neptune has successfully pursued shared services with other towns resulting in savings for Neptune taxpayers. Careful management of expenses across departments allowed Neptune to keep its police force at full strength while others had to do lay offs. Neptune was even able to buy, at great discount, new police cars other towns had to cancel. Neptune also enjoys a AAA bond rating. Over time the township’s employee head count has been reduced significantly without a noticeable reduction in services.
There’s a town in north Jersey, Somerset County, called Far Hills. It is known for its multimillion dollar homes/estates. The homeowners send a relatively small number of students to public schools. They pay the equivalent of about $5,000-6,000 in taxes for a $500,000 house (if you can find one for that price). Just multiply by 8 for taxes on your typical $4 million Far Hills country home.
It’s just an example of how a small town, even one with expensive homes and lots of money, can have low taxes. Interestingly, Far Hills seceded from Bernards Twp. in 1920, just like Ocean Grove, and became an independent borough by an act of the NJ Legislature. The citizens then had a referendum which approved the deal, and they have been independent ever since.
It should be noted that Far Hills has a population of under 1,000. They do not have the high population density of Ocean Grove. In fact, the minimum zoning is 10 acres. The big sports there are the Steeplechase (i.e. fancy horses) and golf.
So now you know what it takes to have low property taxes: Get rich, enroll your kids in private schools, and move to a small town at the Somerset/Hunterdon County countryside on 10 or more acres–and bring your horses. But don’t forget, money can’t buy an ocean.
Wondering : Good points.
“More then 50% of our taxes go to school system.” It is closer to 60%. Yet not many OG kids go to Neptune schools. Which presents a convincing & valid reason for OG to secede from Neptune.
I doubt if more then 100 kids from OG go to Neptune schools. As more & more affluent parents move to OG who can afford to send their kids to private / parochial schools rather then Neptune’s mediocre schools, this number will decline.
No need for OG to go to expense of establishing our own school system. Just as other towns do with no school system, we could send OG kids to another town’s schools and reimburse/pay that town.
Gosh : If what you say is true ( that OG pays highest taxes in the country per square foot) I am surprised, shocked, and annoyed. Yet another convincing & valid reason for OG to secede.
I wonder how many Ocean Grove residents use Neptune’s school system. That’s where 50% of all of our taxes go.
I wonder if for that for the same price (heck, a much lower price) we could set up and run a much better school ourselves.
Towns like Loch Arbor and Interlaken contract with larger towns to provide services. Loch Arbor and Interlaken don’t have their own police, fire, ems, dpw, schools, that service is provided by Deal, Allenhurst, and Ocean Twps. So they pay a fee which is assessed to the residents in tax.
While Bradley, Avon, and Belmar have primary schools, they have agreements to send their kids to other high schools, and a portion of their property taxes go to that district. So Avon pays money to Asbury because that is their high school.
It would be very difficult for OG to secede, replacing all the services Neptune does provide could be expensive
These other communities do it through purchasing collectivized services where they hire the adjacent town(s) to provide their services. Through prudent purchase of services, including buying spots for students in adjoining schools, a small community can continue to exist independently.
The other essential ingredient is having the towns’ managers being very careful and cautious about managing all aspects of the town. This means, as an example, they don’t wait until the whole sewer system is shot, but rather fix problems when they come up. They also maintain minimal overhead (very few people on the town’s payroll).
What often happens, and it is my understanding it happened here, is that the managers of the town contract their own services independently (losing purchase power realtive to buying them through a larger town,) put off repairs and maintenance until there is a crisis situation, and try to maintain their own schoolsand police, and, in other ways, spend money foolishly.
Finally there is the element of the citizens of a town themselves. The citizens can maintain their own town as long as they are willing to pay the taxes. Even through mismanagement, a town can remain independent if the citizens are willing to foot the bill.
Nos sure the reevaulation is a “want” as much as it is NJ state law.
How do tiny places like Interlaken, Loch Arbour and Allenhurst do it? None of those communities have much in the way of a tourist/commercial base for tax revenue. I don’t know enough about them but they do seem to be independent and provide community services.
`At the Township Committee meeting the reevaluation was explained as a requirement of a new State law, not an option.
Not only are we paying the HIGHEST taxes in the country per square foot but Neptune wants a reevaluation.
On Dr. Goldfinger’s last point, boy, did Neptune get a deal! Just fyi, Bradley Beach and Avon-by-the-Sea are stand-alone towns with their own elementary schools, police forces and such, and homeowners with lots of around 7000 square feet and homes much larger than many OG homes (including mine) pay LESS in taxes than I pay for a 30 x 60 foot OG lot.
So, I don’t think that taxes would be higher although they may be similar, if Neptune were to let OG go.
TCos and Joe: According to Gibbons’ History of Ocean Grove, the citizens of Ocean Grove were chronically complaining that they were paying most of the taxes in Neptune but getting relatively little in return (sound familiar?). And many of them wanted secular rather than religious control of the town There were six attempts to get a Borough of Ocean Grove bill through the state legislature, but only one succeeded, and that one only lasted a year in 1920-1921.
During that year there also were lots of issues about taxes, but basically, each property was assessed, and the taxes were thus determined—just like today.
The Borough had a mayor/council form of government and they had an annual budget. I guess the idea was that OG taxes would pay for OG expenses only, and that appealed to a lot of Grovers. Initially, the CMA was OK with it too, but later they joined the group that wanted to return to the old ways.
Later in 1920, there were suits, and the courts found the Borough Act to be unconstitutional. The CMA resumed its prior odd couple three-way understanding with Neptune and the citizens of Ocean Grove. Then, in 1980, that 3-legged stool shifted, and the CMA found itself no longer running the town, but basically becoming a citizen of Neptune, just like the other citizens of the Grove— however on a significantly bigger scale.
There’s something else: Ocean Grove cannot secede without the permission of Neptune Township.
If Ocean Grovers wanted to form a separate municipality with a secular government they could; this would result in a relationship like what is currently in place, but with a far smaller and hyper-local representation
How does Spring Lake manage to do it?
My friends house is assessed at a million and he pays $5,800.
His neighbors are all in that same range.
They would be considered large homes in OG and all are on lots 2 and 3x OG sizes.
Who would decide how to spend the money and how much tax/fee to collect each year? In a town or condo association you have some say about your “contribution” and the people overseeing the money by way of a vote. Not sure how that would work with the CMA in Ocean Grove. Right now its mostly $11/yr and no increases, so not much oversight needed.
Boy, the comments on this post ought to be interesting. I’m game & I’ll kick off.
Who’s going to scream first about how high taxes will go?