Totowa and Passaic pass school budgets, elect Board of Education members
On Tuesday, voters in two Passaic County towns, Passaic and Totowa, went to the polls to choose among Board of Education candidates and decide whether their respective districts' school budgets would pass.
Both districts, Totowa with under 1,000 students and Passaic with almost 14,000 students, asked voters to approve a tax levy of $16.8 million, which is the amount raised through local property taxes.
In Passaic, voters approved the $385,442,357 budget, which includes the $16.8 million levy, by more than 80%, or 400 voting in favor and 64 against.
The bulk of the budgeted money comes from state and federal aid.
In all, about 1.5%, or just under 500, of the city's 30,591 registered voters turned out on Tuesday.
There were four candidates vying for the three spots: Maryann Capursi, Patricia Abril Barreles-Garcia, Craig Miller and Diomedes Minaya.
More: Paterson fails to pass ordinance in time to get tax revenue for start of legal weed sales
More: Ex-Paterson police chief fights residency law that may keep him off Passaic County ballot
Capursi, Barreles-Garcia and Miller unofficially received 419, 419 and 420 votes, respectively. Tuesday's vote count could be bolstered by a number of mail-in ballots to be counted in the upcoming days.
"I've been told there could be as many as 300," Miller said.
In Totowa, voters were also asked to vote on a $16.8 million school tax levy, which represents about 75% of the district's $22.4 million budget for the 2022-23 school year.
Three candidates ran unopposed: Gary Bierach, Rose Marie Carr and Joseph Parlegrecco. Bierach and Carr are incumbents.
The budget, according to borough officials, passed by almost 2-1, but official figures were not available Tuesday night.
Matt Fagan is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: fagan@northjersey.com
Twitter: @fagan_nj
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Totowa, Passaic pass school budgets
