[symple_spacing size=”80″]The title for this weeks blog comes from Pete Seeger’s song “Where Have All The Flowers Gone.”  I think that it appropriate to listen to that song or at least have it in mind as you read this blog.

New Jersey’s Property taxes are the highest in the nation and while we have the best schools in the United States the question has to be asked, what has all the money gone toward? If you look at your property tax bill you will be surprised how much of it is for educating your children, it represents a large percent of your taxes.

Why are they so high you might ask, well the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling Abbot V. Burke  in 1985 changed how school funds from the state are disbursed and started the road to crazy spending by school boards. This is more than likely where we started on the road to ever increasing property tax bills. And as of today the courts ruling(s) has really done nothing for those who the suit was brought for.

Does anybody really know where their school board spending is used with any certainty? The school boards are supposed to operate under the ‘Sunshine Law‘  and the ‘Open Public Records Act’ , but many still do not fully follow the rules and are even defiant of them.

So you can ask what should be done to correct these deficiencies and you will receive blank stares from your state officials when they are asked. Isn’t that a wonderful state of affairs for our state to be in. Does not everyone know the expression “Follow the money”?

Well, we all need to know is exactly where our monies are being spent and why. To accomplish that goal the law and act I mentioned above have to be followed. Yet, I fear that is not enough and propose that an audit be done twice a year by an independent authority. Also, report the results both to the public and the legislature.

I think that the audit should be put up on the board’s webpage for everyone to see. That way it could not be hidden in some obscure publication that no one really reads.

Hopefully by having the audits done, a more open forum for the public would be established. Because they would now be able to see where their monies are being used versus the semi-closed system we have now. And if the public knows what is going on, they can better understand where the money is being misspent. Hopefully then some members of the public would go to a school board meeting and speak up about what they do not want done with their money.

It would take public involvement, the school boards obeying the laws that are in place, the auditing of the spending of the monies, and the state carefully watching what the boards were doing. So, get involved, push for a twice yearly open to the public audit by an independent agency.  And for the enforce of the existing ‘Open Records Act’ and ‘Sunshine Law’.

Only you the Public can make a difference. Do not depend on the politicians to do anything, they have had many decades to something.

Below is my partial rendition of Where Has All the Money Gone?

Where has all the money gone,
Long time missing,
Where has all the money gone,
Hidden a long time ago,
Where has all the money gone,
Elected by the public every one,
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

Where have all the young fools gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the young fools gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the young fools gone,
Gone to spent your money every one,
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

My apologies to Pete Seeger’s family and to the fans of Peter, Paul and Mary.

This is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike