Projected
costs soar for fixing needy schools
Total tab, once $6B, on its way
toward $20B
Sunday, November 27, 2005 • BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL AND
STEVE CHAMBERS • Star-Ledger
Staff
New Jersey taxpayers today face a larger
bill to rebuild schools in the state's poorest districts
than they did five years and $6 billion ago.
A Star-Ledger review of proposals for
further school construction in 11 of the state's Abbott
districts shows a projected price tag of $6.5 billion. That
means the requests from these 11 districts alone, including
Newark, Jersey City and Camden, would cost more than the $6
billion allocated in 2000 for the entire 31-district
program. The Schools Construction Corp. exhausted those
funds with most projects incomplete or never
begun.
The other Abbott communities, including
Paterson and Elizabeth, have yet to file their proposals, so
the new round is on track to approach $14 billion -- and
"that's probably just the tip of the iceberg," said
Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington), a sponsor of the
2000 legislation allocating the $6 billion and one of the
critics of the SCC, which has overseen the largest capital
construction project in state history.
The entire tab for the court-ordered
program could come to $20 billion.
"You've whetted the appetite of people,
and they can't help themselves," Malone said of the funding
requests.
The $6.537 billion in requests from those
11 districts comes on top of $2.55 billion already spent
there, and it is likely to lead to more borrowing by the
state. New Jersey borrowed all of the initial $6 billion,
and taxpayers currently face $600 million annual payments
through 2021.
Officials say new projections are soaring
because they incorporate realistic construction and
land-acquisition costs. Five years ago, officials didn't
include the land costs and were directed by the state to
assume average construction costs of $125 per square foot.
The new plans are running above $210 per square foot and
include estimates to acquire properties.
"It's better to work with the real
numbers," said Assemblyman Craig Stanley (D-Essex), who is
hoping to persuade lawmakers to authorize $2 billion for the
fund-depleted school building program before the legislative
session ends in January. "It's better to know exactly what
you're getting into."
UNDER REVIEW
The districts' new plans are required
every five years under the law that established the state's
school building program. The outlines will give legislators
and policymakers their first glimpse into the magnitude of
the challenge as they wrestle plans to refinance and retool
the SCC.
Although the plans were due to the
Department of Education by October, only 12 of the 31
communities bankrolled by the state have submitted completed
proposals. The Star-Ledger reviewed proposals from 10 of the
12 communities that have filed, plus Newark's new plan,
though the city has yet to officially file with the
state.
Officials at the Department of Education
declined to discuss the plans because they are still under
review.
Launched in response to a 1998 state
Supreme Court order in the long-running Abbott vs. Burke
lawsuit over public school funding in the state's poorest
communities, the school construction program was designed to
repair and rebuild 460 outmoded school buildings. But the
state built just 71 schools and renovated 67 others with
that first $6 billion.
In February, a Star-Ledger analysis
showed the average cost for each of the first six schools
built by the state was 45 percent more than for each of 19
schools erected by local officials over the same time. That
report prompted the state inspector general to probe the SCC
and find mismanagement and cost overruns. In the months
since, the top two SCC officials have resigned.
Gov.-elect Jon Corzine said he plans to
overhaul the SCC in short order after taking office in
January.
"We view the SCC as a major area for
reform and will be making some proposals at the beginning of
the administration," said Andrew Poag, a spokesman for
Corzine's transition office. "What's gone on up until this
point is unacceptable."
Only three of the 11 new proposals
reviewed by The Star-Ledger were for less money than
requests in 2000.
In Neptune, which received $239 million
from the first $6 billion in state funding, officials said
they are essentially finished with construction. They have
requested just $2 million more.
In Long Branch, which got four new
schools, the new plan calls for $66 million -- about half
the projected cost of the district's 2000 plan.
And Phillipsburg, which still wants $111
million, came in $2 million below its 2000
request.
Those are the exceptions.
In places like Camden, Trenton and
Gloucester, the price tags doubled despite the massive state
investments.
In Camden, officials want $895 million,
despite already receiving $305 million.
In Trenton, where the state already has
spent $342 million, the district estimates it needs $650
million more.
And there's Gloucester.
The district already has received twice
the amount it requested five years ago -- $74 million vs.
$33 million -- but wants an additional $71
million.
"None of this is surprising, given that
the original 2000 estimates were based on cost figures that
were unrealistically low even at that time," said David
Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, the
agency that has pursued the Abbott litigation on behalf of
students in the needy communities.
The largest request for additional
funding came from Newark, the state's largest city and one
of the districts struggling to get projects off the
ground.
Since 2000, Newark has received $741
million of the $1.57 billion it requested. In its new plan,
officials said the city needs an additional $3.2 billion --
more than the combined gross domestic product of Aruba and
Greenland.
Dunstan McNichol may be reached at
dmcnichol@starledger.com or (609) 989-0341. Steve Chambers
may be reached at schambers@starledger.com or (973)
392-1674.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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