The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-07-22
Decision Rendered
In School Matter
Commissioner of Education De-
cides That Council Must Raise
MoMney Asked For.

In the matter of the appeal of the
local Board of Education to the Com
missioner of Education, when City
Council refused to raise the money
asked for by the Board of School Es-
Inmates for the erection of an eight
room school and an addition to the
present High School, the Commission
err has just submitted his decision to
the Board of Education. Since the
appeal was made City Council and the
Board of Education have reached an
amicable agreement so that a new
twelye-room building is to be erected
and no addition is to be made to the
High School. The original sum asked
for was $103, 525. 1t is said that it
will cost around $1,000 to complete
the twelve-room structure. The de-
cision in full follows:
This appeal is brought from the
action of the Common Council of the
City of ~Pleasantville in refusing to
raise the sum of sos 900, the amount
fixed and determined on March II,
1922, by the Board of School Esti-
mate and certified to the Common
Council as being necessary to pur-
chase a site for a school building at
a cost of $4475 and to erect thereon a
new school building and enlarge the
present school building at Third and
Washington Avenue at a cost of $103,-
525.
The Common Council defends its
action of the ground first that it does
not approve of the erection of the
new building of only eight rooms nor
of charging at this time the present
high school building at Third and
Washington Avenues, secondly, that
there was certified only the lump sum
of S103, 525 for the two building prop
ositions with no specific designation
of the amount to be expended for
each, and thirdly that the bonding ca
pacity of the municipality is only $780,
655, while the amount certified is
SOS, 900.
1t has been decided by the Com
missioner Of Education, the State
Board of Education and by the Su-
preme Court of N. j., notably in The
Board of Education of the City of
Lambertville VS.. TiaeAGammon Council
of the City of Lambertville, reported
on page 447 of the 1921 Ed. School
Law, that the selection of sites. de-
termining types OF buildings. etc, are
functions solely of the Board of Edu-
cation and not of the governing body
of the municipality. The junction of
the latter body is that of raising mon
ey within the statutory limitations
prescribed.
1t is further the opinion of the
Commissioner that the Common Coun-
Gil has no legal right to object to the
certification of a lump sum by the
Board of School Estimate with no
specification of the two items involved
in such lump sum. Fixing and deter
mining the amount of money neces-
sary for the purposes requested by
the Board of Education rests entirely
with The Board of School Estimate,
and if a lump sum for two building
propositions was determined upon by
the Board of School Estimate, 1t did
not lie with the Common Council to
object, since as stated above the sole
function of the latter body Is to raise
the amount certified to 1t within the
statutory limitations.
The final convention of the Common
Council that the amount asked for,
namely, $108, 900, exceeds the bonding
capacity of the municipality, which is
$50, 900 only, does not in the opinion
of the Commissioner release the Com
NOR Council from its obligation to
raise the desired amount If the sum
of sos, 900 is itself within 80 OF the
taxable valuations of the district. 1t
was decided in the Lambertyille case
that if the amount Immediately asked
for is itself within the 80 limitation,
the governing body of the municipal
ity must raise such amount even
though il be necessary because of the
bonding limit having been reached to
raise the excess by direct tax. 1t is
not disputed that the taxable yalua-
lions of ~Pleasantyille mount to $3,-
1852 and the $685. 900 certified in
this case by the Board of Estimate
comes well within the $112,0 900 allow
ed by the 30 limitation fixed by
statute.
1t is therefore the opinion OF the
Commissioner OF Education that 1t Is
the duty of the Common Council OF
the City of P~leasantville to raise the
amount certified to it by the Board of
School Estimate, namely, sos, 600,
even though it may be necessary to do
so partly by a direct tax, and the
Common Council is accordingly hereby
ordered to raise such amount at once
in accordance with the certificate oil
the Board Of School Estimate.
(Signed) c. ]. Strahan,