• Taxes - One of the major problems facing Ringwood residents today is capital improvements to our schools funded through property taxes.  Major repairs are urgently required for new boilers, roofs, technology and electrical upgrades, and new windows, among other things, for all of our schools.  Twenty or thirty years ago, wiring was not designed for our technology rich offices, libraries, and computer labs with large numbers of computers and printers.  The responsibility of the Ringwood Board of Education is to come up with a plan that will be acceptable to Ringwood Borough residents.  On April 21st, 2009, Ringwood residents will be given a chance to express their opinions toward education in Ringwood for the future.  I hope that the decision made will be in favor of providing the necessary funding the district needs to improve and maintain our facilities.  The cost to the average taxpayer will average less than $78 a year over 30 years.

• Our school budgets were voted down by taxpayers in a number of our more recent school elections.  In April, 2006, the board put together a budget that had absolutely no excess spending in it and it still failed in the election.  That budget being voted down was a general statement about the tax situation in Ringwood, but it was the school budget that was voted down and not the county or borough budgets.

• Ringwood's School Improvement Project (SIP) will save more than $25,000,000 on administrative costs and salaries over 30 years.  The reduction in administrative costs will equal $514,000 in the first year alone.  The savings after 30 years would be valued in excess of $1,348,000 per year including the effects of inflation for a total greater than $25,000,000 for the 30 year period.  At the end of the 30 year bond payback, almost $1,500,000 annually will be directed to property tax relief.

• Ringwood Borough’s plan to revalue properties throughout Ringwood will have very little impact on the $78 average tax increase for this referendum.  Typically in a revaluation most homes stay at or near the same tax levy.  Property value may increase, but the tax rate decreases.  A typical revaluation will normally find 1/3 of the homes keep the same tax rate while 1/3 sees a slight increase and the other 1/3 sees a slight decrease.  Overall, taxes stay the same throughout the borough.

• As a Ringwood taxpayer and school trustee, I am very concerned about our current critical tax situation.  As I stated earlier, Ringwood needs to consider a referendum on April 21st, 2009 for funding capital improvements to our schools and without taxpayer support, education in Ringwood will suffer dramatically for years to come.

Opinion of Richard A. Schaefer, Board President, Facilities Committee Chairperson, and Webmaster.