April 24, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 5 Ridgewood Village voters endorse budget, unopposed trustees by John Koster Ridgewood’s school budget was adopted at the polls last week by a vote of 1,165 votes in favor versus 929 votes opposed. The school budget of $91,302,801, with a local tax levy of $84,608,635, will increase the school taxes on a Ridgewood house by approximately $30 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, or about $204 on the average house assessed at $687,362. “I’m thrilled that the budget passed and I thank the voters of Ridgewood, but it was a small turnout,” Ridgewood Board of Education President Sheila Brogan noted the morning after the election. Incumbent school trustee Michelle Lenhard received 1,432 votes, and incumbent trustee James Morgan, running for his first three-year term after completing a one-year term, received 1,349 votes. The vote totals included absentee ballots, but at press time were still termed unofficial, though the two board seats were uncontested. The Ridgewood Village Council’s municipal-purpose budget is now tentatively predicted as having a close to a zero tax increase, and the average $204 school budget would represent almost all of the projected property tax increase this year. The board of education budget had to eliminate $900,000 to balance revenues and appropriations, and the district is experiencing significant growth in special education costs. Instruction and instruction support accounted for 67 percent of the general fund. Lenhard, who served two terms as president of the Ridgewood Board of Education, has served on Friends of the Ridgewood Library, the Ridgewood Education Foundation, and the Federated and local Home & School Associations. Morgan, a 40-year resident and former chief financial officer of a major corporation, won his one-year seat, defeating then-incumbent Robert Hutton last year. He advocated a zero-based budget and complete board transparency as a member of the public before running for office. The Ridgewood Police Department began surveillance against possible terrorist attacks immediately after last week’s Boston Marathon explosions. The department reports that security precautions in key transportation areas will continue. No specific details were given due to the need for stealth in effective surveillance, but Ridgewood’s bus stop at Van Neste Plaza and the railroad station are obviously key areas. In recent weeks, the Ridgewood Police Department discussed information about joint participation in a rapid deployment force and participated in joint drills with Bergen County and Midland Park in the use of firearms and the decisions on Bomb surveillance begins whether to shoot in various situations. In other police business, the Ridgewood Detective Bureau is currently investigating several thefts. On April 9, an employee of Fembot on East Ridgewood Avenue reported two teenage girls in the store who were said to be shoplifting. Police are investigating the report. Also on April 9, a Knollwood Road resident reported that her home had been entered and a number of items had been stolen. On April 13, a South Pleasant Avenue man reported that his vehicle had been entered and items had been taken. J. KOSTER Letters from home A Discovery Friday class and staff at The Ridgewood Cooperative Nursery School, created notes of thanks for one of the teacher’s son’s, a Marine Lance Corporal and his squadron currently serving overseas.