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N.J. Mayor To Ask For $30 Million Loan To Build Middle School

LYNDHURST, N.J. (WCBS 880) – Lyndhurst Mayor Richard Delassio is about to ask voters to borrow $30 million to build a new middle school, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reports.

Delassio said that there is no better time than now to borrow and build.

"From a business perspective, it's the best time. We're looking at borrowing money at less than two percent and you're looking at a point in time in the economy where the contractors and developers are doing things at a much cheaper rate," Delassio said.

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LISTEN: WCBS 880's Sean Adams reports

With the country crawling back from a recession and unemployment still relatively high, Delassio is bucking the trend of cutting back and said the benefits outweigh the costs.

"What we're trying to do is to raise property values by either increasing the services that we're offering," Delassio said. "But it really comes down to this is the time to take advantage of a bad economy to make it work for the future."

The question is will voters see the same opportunity?

Delassio thinks so.

"We believe that you're going to see 10 to 15 percent bump in property values simply by building the middle school. In the end, the values that we're going to add to their homes outweigh what they're going to pay for the tax," he said.

Lyndhurst will hold a referendum on the topic next month.

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