To the Editor:
For over a decade, HVRSD has regularly transferred millions of its annual surplus to collect in its capital reserve.
Capital reserve, as the name implies, is reserved for capital projects. Legally, it may not be used for general operations such as paying staff. Capital projects are literally the exact type of projects presented in the current referendum.
Consider that during COVID, HVRSD ran multimillion-dollar surpluses on transportation and facilities costs, since the District needed to budget for a regular school year but realistically used far less fuel, utilities, and maintenance on District-owned buses and facilities.
As a result, HVRSD transferred much of that surplus to capital reserve and, on June 30, 2021, they hit a record capital reserve audited balance that exceeded $10 million, in addition to the $6 million in their audited general operating surplus.
All NJ public school districts submit a User-Friendly Budget to the state with audited balances taken on June 30 year-end. According to the most recent UFBs filed, HVRSD holds more audited surplus and reserves both absolutely ($15M+) and as a percentage of total budget (17%) than all like-sized districts in Mercer County which average $8.8M and 10% respectively.
Like-sized districts are those with one high school. However, it is worth noting that HVRSD’s audited surplus plus reserves sum to 17% of its total budget, and that eclipses even the large Mercer County districts percentages whose operating surplus plus capital reserves average 9.3% of their total budget.
Having a rainy-day fund is fine, but when per pupil cost and reserve holdings exceed all others in Mercer County, it’s time to repay some of the excess to taxpayers. I will follow the bipartisan suggestion of former mayors John Hart and Vanessa Sandom, and Vote NO on the HVRSD referendum until the district applies existing taxpayer funding on capital projects to reduce their capital request for additional taxpayer referendum funding.
Peter Sandford,
Pennington, NJ
