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Tax board wont halt assessments

SUSANNE CERVENKA @SCERVENKA

FREEHOLD - The Monmouth County Tax Board

wont stop the pilot property tax program despite calls
from local officials across the county to do so.
Tax Board President James Stuart said he doesnt
think the board has the authority to suspend the program because it was created by a state law. He said the
board asked the state Attorney Generals Office for its

opinion when the board met in closed session Tuesday

morning.
But a representative for the Department of Treasury, which oversees tax collections, told the Asbury
Park Press Monday that the board can vote to suspend
the program, formally called the Assessment Demonstration Program. A Press investigation found questionable relationships between a former tax board commissioner, municipal assessors, a relative of the county

SHOWDOWN
OVER GUNS

tax administrator and companies that won contracts

under the program.
Yes, the Monmouth County Tax Board can vote to
suspend the program, said Chris Santarelli, deputy director of communications for Treasury.
When the Asbury Park Press provided this information to the Tax Board, however, Stuart said, We need
See TAXES, Page 7A

WEDNESDAY 10.21.15

Test anxiety
Fewer than half
of students meet
PARCC standards
AMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS

Senate President Stephen Sweeney (right), a potential Democratic 2017 gubernatorial candidate, has called a Thursday vote to
override Gov. Chris Christies veto of Bill S-2360, which concerns mental health and gun control.

Republican lawmakers unanimously supported the measure

until they were pressured by Christie to change their positions
BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP
TRENTON At first, the gun control bill passed with unanimous support
of state Republican lawmakers.
But now as it comes for an override vote Thursday, Republicans are
backtracking and poised to uphold Gov. Chris Christies veto, while the
governor is out on the GOP presidential campaign trail.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a potential Democratic 2017 gubernatorial candidate, has called a Thursday vote to override Christies veto
of Bill S-2360. Its a proposal to provide judges with relevant information
from law enforcement when people seek to expunge their mental health
records for a firearm purchase.
Lawmakers from both parties voted unanimously for the measure, but
Christie vetoed it and pressured members of the GOP caucus in the Senate
to change their positions in a previous override attempt Sept. 24. Nearly all
the Republicans complied.
Loretta Weinberg, a ranking Senate Democrat, said the reversal is tied
to Christies tacking to the right as part of his presidential campaign.
Its the governor who goes to New Hampshire and says, I am proud of
the fact that no new gun safety legislation has ever passed under my
watch. Thats what we have to deal with, Weinberg said. We have a sim-

Overriding the veto

40
27

Members of Senate

Votes needed to reverse a

governors veto

ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL
OBITUARIES

Jennifer Beck
(R-Monmouth)

7D
1E
6D
3A
15A

James Holzapfel
(R-Ocean)

OPINION
SPORTS
TABLE
WEATHER
YOUR MONEY

Joe Kyrillos
(R-Monmouth)

24

have great challenges ahead.

Seats held by Democrats

8A
1C
1D
8C
11A

Robert Singer
(R-Ocean)

VOLUME 136
NUMBER 252
SINCE 1879

See PARCC, Page 12A

The (PARCC) scores will show that we

See GUNS, Page 4A

Christopher Connors
(R-Ocean)

EWING New Jersey parents should brace themselves for bad news this November.
Students who took the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC,
are likely to be shocked when they receive their test results in a few weeks.
Less than half of students in grades 3 to 11 who took
New Jerseys newest standardized test are meeting
their grade-level expectations, according to figures released Tuesday by the state Department of Education.
For example, only 36 percent of 10th-graders met or
exceeded their English and language arts expectations
on the PARCC test this year. Only 24 percent of the students who took the eighth-grade math test and high
school geometry test met or exceeded expectations.
Across the state, only 34 percent of students met or
exceeded their math expectations, and only 46 percent
met or exceeded their English and language arts goals.
In some cases, the numbers are a 20 percentage
point drop from the 2014 scores recorded in one of New
Jerseys previous standardized tests, the NJ ASK. Math
scores for fourth-graders dropped 36 percentage
points between the 2014 NJ ASK and the 2015 PARCC
test.

Sam Thompson
(R-12th district)

DAVID C. HESPE,

STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER