[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6052691,"mediaKeyId","3390546-599c95091a1a635c34b4a57a4057bb90","parentId",3390546,"title","Hillsborough superintendent says 85 Millstone students were miscoded; Millstone to see larger share of school taxes","audioSeconds",672,"startMs",3408000,"endMs",4080000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3390546-599c95091a1a635c34b4a57a4057bb90&start=3408&end=4080","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3390546-599c95091a1a635c34b4a57a4057bb90/thumbnail_3408000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6052691/Hillsborough/Somerset-County/New-Jersey/Hillsborough-superintendent-says-85-Millstone-students-were-miscoded-Millstone-to-see-larger-share-of-school-taxes","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6052691-6682af39d285fecde1dec1b7d9803302/orig.mp4?Expires=1771172969&Signature=fJnOZBcJMrVkraDDoydPm6FOWbHipBPAtBHrbnu0xmWouY~~qrooKxHqezC5CogzQJphE9OKimaMc1zLY6wpeIVjoYmE5dfNQl8JimNWhF3ScCV-h~Q8aRwAg~3vwfgviu48e2Qk0rJmuLglYE-1KMuvE9N1TJlePTL44WV5BVx8jIefSLW~mkxf6J8-ihZFA2dIQW7Ue~tFX5TYOsj6nkw9D~Bn3biI8k6ny-jD5EaDiYl-C7C-ijRUoRj-CUgZ~B342iiZuQwpwA4KT1ZdtbeP0~lM2R2SI5xnREYYnvay3Qki0VusT0Ni8FAHXhFfCf0xtCMXvJEp1n1c674dtA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","HillsboroughTownship NJ","date","2025-03-25T00:00:00Z","article","Superintendent Michael Bowlby told the Hillsborough Township Committee on March 25 that a data problem in the school district’s registration records has identified 85 students who live in Millstone Township but were not coded as Millstone residents; only 17 had been coded that way in the district database.

Bowlby said the discrepancy was discovered during an elementary redistricting review meant to equalize enrollment for fall 2026 and that the district has put new controls in place to prevent a recurrence. He told the committee the change will increase Millstone’s portion of the school tax burden and that he will meet with Millstone’s mayor this week to discuss next steps.

The discovery matters because the municipal property tax allocation between sending and receiving municipalities depends on the number of resident students. \"We had 85 students in Millstone who attend the Hillsborough Township public schools, But only 17 were coded as living in Millstone,\" Bowlby said at the meeting. He added the discrepancy dates back several years and is being corrected going forward.

Bowlby described how the error occurred: after a statewide reorganization of “send and receive” relationships about 2009, registering students was handled at individual school buildings and secretaries sometimes relied on address fields rather than an explicit residency selector. That, he said, allowed students with Millstone addresses to be miscoded as Hillsborough residents when their mailing addresses used Hillsborough formats.

To fix the process, the district has centralized registration in the board office, created an explicit residency field in its registration system (“Are you a Millstone resident or are you a Hillsborough resident?”), and obtained a master list of Millstone addresses to cross-check registrations. Bowlby told the committee those steps establish multiple controls to reduce human error in future registrations.

Bowlby also said the board will present a finalized budget on April 28 and encouraged members of the public to attend two upcoming school-board budget meetings on April 7 and April 28 to ask questions. \"We're on a timeline ... The next day we have to start pressing buttons and putting it in the state system,\" he said, referring to the district’s budget submission timeline.

Mayor Don Ciccarelli and committee members received the report. Ciccarelli said the township will monitor developments but emphasized the board of education’s primary role: \"...as this evolves, we may have to be consulted on steps forward. But for right now, a lot of this lies with the school board and what they decide,\" he said.

The superintendent described the likely fiscal effect for Millstone as larger than for Hillsborough in per-student terms because of Hillsborough’s larger enrollment. He estimated the per-student tax impact on Millstone could be on the order of tens of dollars per student, while the net impact on Hillsborough would be small.

Bowlby said he had informed Millstone officials at the same time he informed the township committee and that he will continue to provide updates to the committee staff. He emphasized that the miscoding predated his tenure and that the district has implemented corrective steps to prevent recurrence.

The discussion was informational only; the committee did not take formal action related to the school budget during the meeting. Bowlby directed residents with questions about the school budget to the board of education meetings and to district staff for detailed inquiries.

For public follow-up, the superintendent gave the dates and locations for the two school-board sessions where the finalized budget will be presented: April 7 and April 28, 2025, both at 7:30 p.m. at Auten Road Intermediate School (per his statements at the meeting).","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","2025 March 25 - Township Committee Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","Superintendent Michael Bowlby told the Hillsborough Township Committee on March 25 that 85 students who live in Millstone Township attend Hillsborough schools but only 17 had been coded as Millstone residents in the district’s registration system.","taxTitle","Hillsborough, Somerset County, New Jersey","taxId",70067,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6052687,"Hillsborough holds Comcast franchise public hearing; Comcast outlines renewal process, agrees to provide service data",659,2941000,3600000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3390546-599c95091a1a635c34b4a57a4057bb90&start=2941&end=3600","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3390546-599c95091a1a635c34b4a57a4057bb90/thumbnail_2941000.jpg","/articles/6052687/Hillsborough/Somerset-County/New-Jersey/Hillsborough-holds-Comcast-franchise-public-hearing-Comcast-outlines-renewal-process-agrees-to-provide-service-data","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6052687-fb0b9e078c6a596b53fd7add959029cf/orig.mp4?Expires=1771172969&Signature=VAYE6XPm24k88ZyW5jc0wmdKzo8oe~6V18eOftglhUsbWev1Kb3IzITmKQSYuk1nsSP16Ys3dxddJO1WHebj7LsuAitE1A0k6AUMqf5U5mN5dUoxd7uV0QpKopzgWXoqeKV~480VIa2kS967F0ANb6OnMxNki5IyZHN3RjDDUuHgashgU-~2ZomYS3UeEFYi019V48cIiIAUwKxg~dFBQ~nm7vvG2rvQHQj0ABF0F3SakBxy2WzzEsn9EJUIijFM~gI1i8VyoIzvgiLtf1R2h5kY3tuzp16t6xiCLNAzx6LS50A-kbA1hbwsd1Qf4-qyuF77Z2XnREJ3HtHrxVpsHw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Hillsborough Township held a public hearing on March 25 to consider municipal consent for Comcast’s cable-franchise renewal. Comcast’s senior government-affairs director, Rob Clifton, described the federal- and state-level process the company is following, answered questions from the committee and agreed to provide additional service reliability data to township officials.

Clifton said Comcast filed a renewal application in September 2024 and sent the required “6 to 6” notice under federal rules in June 2022. He said Comcast’s current certificate of approval (COA) for the municipality expires June 19, 2025. \"We filed an application as the attorney said back in September of 20 24. The current agreement ... will expire on June nineteenth of this year,\" Clifton said.

Clifton and the township attorney summarized the municipal role under the federal/state framework. As Clifton put it, the governing body should consider whether the operator substantially complied with the existing franchise, whether service quality meets community needs, whether the operator has technical, financial and legal capacity, and whether the renewal is reasonable to meet future cable-related municipal needs. \"The first is it has a cable operator substantially complied with the material terms of the existing franchise and with applicable law? Has the quality of the service, been reasonable, in light of, community needs? ... Does the operator have the technical, financial, and legal ability to provide the services that we propose to? And is the renewal proposal reasonable to meet the future cable related needs of the municipality,\" the attorney summarized.

Committee members and staff raised three practical concerns: (1) access to the voluminous renewal materials; (2) the local franchise fee and PEG capital grants; and (3) local service reliability and outages.

On public access to the application, officials said the municipal notice indicated a large document packet was available for review but that technical appendices had been redacted before public release. Clifton and the township confirmed the packet includes tariff, channel-lineup and corporate information; Clifton said technical appendices (engineering details) were redacted from the public copy to protect proprietary information. The mayor and committee asked that the municipality confirm how the packet is made available to residents.

On fees and grants, Clifton explained the mechanics of franchise-fee payments and PEG grants. He said municipalities receive an annual check (franchise fees) that is generally 2% of the basic cable charge; that percentage rises if a competing operator is certified to serve 60% or more of homes in a municipality. He also said Comcast offers a negotiated PEG-capital grant (based on historical subscriber counts) as part of municipal agreements. \"...what we do is I will look at the highest amount of subscribers that you've had over a year period and construct a grant based on that,\" Clifton said.

Township officials pressed Comcast for service-reliability data. Several committee members described recurring outages and asked for metrics on outages, node-level incidents and average speeds. Clifton agreed to supply system data and to ask technical staff for a township-level report. \"I will get in touch with my tech folks tomorrow and hopefully, with by early next week,\" Clifton said.

Clifton also told the committee that, after the public hearing, Comcast will provide a draft ordinance for municipal review that would formalize the right-of-way agreement; if municipal consent were withheld, the matter could move to mediation at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and, if necessary, an administrative hearing.

Clifton closed by reminding the committee of Comcast’s Internet Essentials affordability program and the company’s willingness to coordinate with social-services staff on sign-up details.

The public hearing was held and closed; committee members did not vote on municipal consent at the meeting. The next step is municipal review of Comcast’s draft ordinance and continued negotiation as required by the Board of Public Utilities process.","Hillsborough held a public hearing on March 25 for Comcast’s municipal-consent renewal; Comcast said it filed its renewal application in September 2024 and that its current certificate of approval expires June 19, 2025.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6052682,"Hillsborough committee approves two ordinances, several consent items and claims list in March 25 meeting",1986,4014000,6000000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3390546-599c95091a1a635c34b4a57a4057bb90&start=4014&end=6000","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3390546-599c95091a1a635c34b4a57a4057bb90/thumbnail_4014000.jpg","/articles/6052682/Hillsborough/Somerset-County/New-Jersey/Hillsborough-committee-approves-two-ordinances-several-consent-items-and-claims-list-in-March-25-meeting","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6052682-4c4fd216c143e36659b056cb8fe220cb/orig.mp4?Expires=1771172969&Signature=VH~eLZ-WuJ91U0wiCo3A-ix6T5BUQX8n5bA1S5BGInV0NsH6aJ7AofbPEKH5mlT6-b0ypsb7oprkcjDD~2yA45t4CSRzzSvttqi3MQCoJbm8nonLIObQPkIE~4XDLdA7bEunmoMIpxYBWfft4Zbw0zetBu5j4-rDp5PxeSDN6SLPs9WtpNawBW~~PVjSEp4fRVeCHgMFYAlGF-Phynxrmkxz~V0EPYJjVuHvyeuBUwZeg5QvFG0gGrLvIGdD7cuBhsOekMLUy5QyM-DHfxkeNfP~2yVXOLZzmNB0tMHYmQoKXqCr~8r7Czwj4hT5jhnBzJrWTr071wgzpauBRb4D1g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Hillsborough Township Committee completed a series of routine and legislative votes on March 25, adopting two ordinances and approving multiple consent-agenda items and the claims list.

Ordinances adopted
- Ordinance 2025-04: \"Ordinance to Exceed the 2025 Municipal Budget Appropriation Limits and to Establish a Cap Bank\" — Adopted by roll call (Committeewoman Hand: yes; Committeeman Lipani: yes; Deputy Mayor Payne: yes; Mayor Don Ciccarelli: yes).

- Ordinance 2025-05: \"Amend chapter 92, police department, article 2, establishment and organization, section 92-8 appointments and promotions\" — Adopted by roll call (Hand: yes; Lipani: yes; Payne: yes; Ciccarelli: yes).

Consent agenda and other motions
- Consent agenda items 11 and 14 (personnel promotions to recreation) were approved together by roll call; the committee expressed support for career-development promotions and full staffing in recreation.

- Consent agenda item 10 (resolution authorizing hiring of part-time interns under the New Jersey Accelerator Internship Grant Program) was approved by roll call with one recorded abstention: Committeewoman Hand: yes; Committeeman Lipani: yes; Deputy Mayor Payne: abstain; Mayor Ciccarelli: yes. Administrator Ferreira and staff described the grant program and the planned intern assignments, including a master-plan support role and other departmental projects.

- Claims list 202506 was approved by roll call (Hand: yes; Lipani: yes; Payne: yes; Ciccarelli: yes).

Votes were taken by individual roll call where recorded; the meeting record indicates unanimous yes votes on the two ordinances and the claims list, and a single abstention on the interns resolution. The meeting minutes show no defeated motions during recorded roll-call votes that evening.

All votes described above are taken from roll-call statements recorded in the committee’s transcript of the March 25 meeting.","The Township Committee adopted two ordinances (2025-04 and 2025-05), approved consent agenda items (including two personnel promotions) and passed the claims list 202506. One abstention was recorded on the part-time interns resolution.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Hillsborough superintendent says 85 Millstone students were miscoded; Millstone to see larger share of school taxes

Hillsborough holds Comcast franchise public hearing; Comcast outlines renewal process, agrees to provide service data

Hillsborough committee approves two ordinances, several consent items and claims list in March 25 meeting