PARSIPPANY — What was supposed to be a routine Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council meeting turned into the opposite.
During the public comment session, several Board of Education members, including President Andy Choffo, Vice President Susy Golderer, Sheethal Abraham, Jack Raia, and Timothy Berrios, addressed concerns regarding PILOT programs and Mayor James Barberio’s proposed audit of the Board of Education.
Parsippany Mayor James Barberio has pledged to proceed with a controversial plan to audit the Board of Education’s budget. However, it remains uncertain whether he will secure the backing of the township council.
Board of Education member Timothy Berrios said, “On August 6, 2024, like many of my fellow Parsippany taxpayers, I sat in this chamber and listened as the administration announced a taxpayer-funded audit of the Board of Education. Let me be clear: this audit seems like nothing more than political retaliation against board members who once supported the administration but now find themselves at odds—especially after residential development PILOTS were negotiated without consulting the key stakeholders in our town.”
He continued, “Why start this audit after six consecutive years of earning Certificates of Excellence in our audits? With the former Board of Education president sitting beside you, someone who knows the quality of the work being done—why now? Is this political retribution? Is it because we’re fighting for our district’s fair share for the 7,000 students and 1,000 teachers and staff? Or is it because someone said something at an event that the administration didn’t like?”
Parsippany resident Richard Suarez: “I’m very disappointed that the person who’s going to be looking over the books for the Township regarding the Board of Education has prior dealings with your very good friend, John. And everybody knows you guys are tight. So don’t even say that that doesn’t happen.”
“Board members are held to have tightly bound ethics rules that the municipal government is not. However, it is the responsibility of the superintendent and business administrator, along with the rest of the administration, to make up the line items in the budget based on many meetings and discussions with pertinent staff and what is looking to be achieved in the year to come within the district. Every school district must also send their budget to be approved by the county superintendent’s office. The district has received awards for organizing and managing the budget in the last six consecutive years. There are about 30 districts in the state of New Jersey that received this award out of 593. Seventy percent of our school district budget is salaries and benefits, which leaves 30 percent to cover school needs for buildings and grounds of the 15 school buildings, supplies, furniture, technology for the school, transportation costs, and a whole lot more,” comment Vice President Susy Golderer.
“The school district stands to lose over 30 million dollars for each 30-year pilot program negotiated by the Mayor and the Town Council for each approved housing PILOT program. Mayor, you have stated that individual board members have made the Board of Education political because they attended a Parsippany Mayoral candidate’s announcement. Yet, regardless of position, you have welcomed any person to support you. Board members have attended your fundraisers, and there has been no pushback for any one of their attendance. I supported you for council races. I supported you for mayor until you backtracked, but the only main promise you made was to get rid of Inglesino, your first term, and on the first meeting, you backed from that. To say things about board members is bad enough because it is only done for vindictive reasons. Board members are elected state officials, and though there is no compensation, criticism is understood as part of the position,” she continued.
Board member Jack Raia characterized Barberio’s proposed audit as “redundant,” pointing out that the board already conducts annual audits, which the state has reviewed, and that the district’s budgets are publicly available on its website.
Councilman Justin Musella commented, “Mayor Barberio’s recent threat to audit the Board of Ed is a blatant act of retaliation designed to silence dissent and suppress political opposition. There’s nothing inappropriate about individual Board Members expressing their opinions except when disagreeing with the Mayor. Using government power to target and punish those with differing views is the definition of abusing power. Instead of threatening, the Mayor should address the Board’s legitimate concerns and listen to the community.”
Board of Education President Andrew Choffo said, “Let’s talk about the audit and this auditor, Frank DiMaria and Associates. What specific concerns does the Township have about the school’s budget? I’ve never heard anything. For the Township to take the extraordinary action of spending taxpayer dollars auditing the school district, surely something specific must be of concern. Or is the Mayor seeking taxpayer-funded political retaliation as a pretext for the sham audit? This is not an independent audit. The township has no legitimate authority to audit the school district. This is political retribution unleashed by an unhinged Mayor with tacit approval by this council. It’s a taxpayer-funded hatchet job. Now, let’s get back to the auditor, Frank DiMaria. To the Barberio and Inglesino Dynamic Duo of Destruction, we now add Frank DeMaria and create the Triad of Treachery—three chummy people. DeMaria is the CFO of Belleville. Inglesino is the redevelopment attorney for Belleville. Inglesino, Barberio, and DiMaria, the Triad of Treachery. Further, Inglesino and DeMaria also represent Hackensack. It’s very chummy indeed.”
Mayor James Barberio fired back and said, “You heard something about politics here tonight. In my opinion, what happened here tonight is nonsense. They’re going back and forth and trying to negotiate in public. Our Board of Education tax burden is a burden on the town taxpayers. I love the school system. I love the educational system, but the bottom line is I hired somebody who can explain–because these numbers are all over the place. When you speak to Councilman Matt McGrath, he is an eye-opener and shows me some stuff. I spoke to an auditor to help us decipher these numbers. That’s the bottom line. If everything’s good, there’s nothing to worry about. Before we give any money to any organization or government, the town has to do due diligence. And that’s what we’re doing here in Parsippany.”
“Regarding funding, when we lose a tax appeal, and Parsippany has many tax appeals coming up, we don’t get any money back from the Board of Education. We get to pay the 63% twice. It’s true, as the Board of Education President said, that on a PILOT, we get 95% of it. That’s why the legislators created the system: They knew that PILOTS were a means of jump-starting the economy in hard economic times. You’d have vacant office spaces at the end of the day; who is going to pay for those vacant office spaces? You, the taxpayers. Nobody is here to hurt the school system,” stated Barberio.
The cost of the audit and the necessary approval process for the expenditure are still uncertain, as Mayor James Barberio did not address questions about these matters during the meeting. Councilwoman Judy Hernandez raised concerns about the board’s scrutiny and inquired whether the council would have a chance to vote on the audit. She was informed that a vote might occur at the next council meeting.
Hernandez said, “I know this is politics, and it’s frustrating. I want to see us working together to do more things because we have much to cover. We have a lot going on. And this affordable housing thing is a train coming at us.”
“Because they (Board of Education) did a budget and did have an audit independently as we do. And it’s expensive to do an audit. So I’m concerned when we have so many things on the horizon. We have the current infrastructure, stormwater issues, and development that’s happening and not being filled. Then a next round of development that we’re not meeting, even if we’re talking about when we all should be meeting together and working towards solving those problems cooperatively,” she continued.
Inglesino was not at Tuesday’s meeting, but Parsippany Focus reached out, and he commented, “As a resident and business owner in Parsippany, an audit of Board of Education budgets should be conducted before an agreement to give them millions of dollars of additional taxpayer money. In fact, it would be irresponsible not to conduct that audit. The Board of Education should welcome such scrutiny. The fact that this Board has run a campaign of lies regarding PILOTS makes me suspect that they are good stewards of our taxpayer dollars.”
Council President Paul Carifi Jr. and Vice President Frank Neglia, who typically align with Mayor Barberio on votes, did not comment on the proposed audit during the meeting. Councilman Matt McGrath was not present.
