TOMS RIVER, NJ – The land deal by the Township of Toms River to purchase a 17-acre tract of land near Silver Bay Elementary School was nothing more than a way for the township to send $4.15 million to balance the school district’s 2023-24 budget.
According to Superintendent Michael Citta, there was never a plan to sell the property to developers, despite weeks of discussion at township council meetings claiming the land would be sold to a developer if the town did not buy it.
There was even a site plan on record, which turned out to be a fictional marketing piece created by the township to push the plan past suspicious residents.
Toms River Mayor Mo Hill and his council allies, led by developer Matt Lotano told residents if the town did not buy the land, it would be sold. Lotano even offered a site plan with streets and subdivided lots.
None of it was the truth, and the site plan was purely fictional.
While speaking to a small group of residents this week about the purchase, Superintendent Citta confirmed what was reported days ago by Shore News Network, selling the land to a developer was never an option.
It was nothing more than a smoke-and-mirrors campaign to push residents into supporting the sale of the land to the township, concocted by the administration of Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill and the Toms River Regional School District.
“This isn’t because we’re looking to make more money,” Citta said. “This school board does not want to see any more buildings. We’re not going to look anywhere else.”
Under the agreement, the township will purchase the land from the district in a one-time cash transaction to balance this year’s school budget. Next year, the district will still be short at least $4.6 million dollars and possibly much more unless Governor Phil Murphy agrees to amend the S2 school funding formula.
That’s not likely to happen.
The township will use open space funds, meaning it will be nearly impossible for Hill to sell the land for $1, like he did to a downtown parcel to pave the way for the construction of a 10 story twin tower apartment building.
By all estimates, the school district is down $26 million as it stands now for the 2024-25 budget and they don’t have much more land to sell to the township going forward.
The district owns a similar parcel of land on Ohio Avenue between East Dover Elementary School and Toms River High School North. Then there’s a corner property on Jerah Street on the east side of Toms River High School East.
The largest property available for sale next year is a 49-acre tract of land along Whitesville Road in the North Dover section of town near Riverwood Drive. Another possible piece of land for sale is a tract of land in Beachwood, south of Toms River Intermediate South at the corner of Pinewald Road and Hickory Street.
The most valuable asset able to be sold by the district is the office building purchased by former Superintendent Michael Ritacco at 1144 Hooper Avenue. The district’s administration offices are using that building, and much of it is leased to commercial businesses.
According to insiders in Toms River politics, the prospect of the school board approving a land sale to a developer is slim to none.
“Any school board member who votes to approve the sale of school district-owned land to a private developer will be voted out of office at the next chance, possibly even recalled,” the source told Shore News Network earlier this week. “There’s no way that’s ever going to happen. It would be political suicide. Just look at what is happening to Mayor Hill after he sold a prime downtown waterfront property valued at millions of dollars to a developer for just one dollar.”
If financially strapped, the district could also sell a school and consolidate students, but Citta said at this time, there are no plans for that, despite enrollment being down.
From its height of 17,000 students, the district is now at just 14,500 students.
“We’re not selling a school,” he said.
Instead, Citta, whose rank-and-file union leaders in the district supported New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy in 2021 will hire political lobbyists to fight the Governor’s S2 funding formula.
Since taking office four years ago, this is the fifth major land deal brokered by Mo Hill involving the purchasing or sale of public lands.