To The Editor: According to an edition of a local newspaper, the Middle Township School Board’s $20.8 million budget was voted down by a narrow margin, 358 to 346, a difference of only 12 votes. I recall last year it was approved by 400 to 400 and something, another narrow vote. But the small number of voters is astonishing. Only 704. Last year it was only about 900 voting. I am not sure how many eligible voters there are, but surely this is but a small fraction. I am guilty for the first time. In the seven years I've been here...I neglected to vote. I had time when I remembered late Tuesday, but decided why bother? In years past, I voted against the budget every year as a protest to the lack of real reform in propertytaxes...rebates aren't reform. One's "fair share" of school taxes are still based on the market value of one's home, a scheme that makes no sense to me, and is horribly regressive because it ignores income. I lived in Pennsylvania for many years where we got to vote for the school board, but not the budget. If we didn't like the budget, tough, we could vote out the school board next time. But the New Jersey budget vote is little more than a charade. Even when one gets voted down, maybe some cosmetic changes in the budget are made and some services or items excised or reduced from the budget (amid much hand wringing) but an adjusted budget moves ahead and out taxes continue their upward march, now against new and higher assessed home values, thanks to the reval. Reform continues to fade as a possibility. I believe we all have a responsibility to support public education, but income should be a factor regarding how much our "fair share" should be. And why should we have to support it at the same level forever, even though we have no children in the system? There should be a point where when one's kids are done, taxes drop, but we continue to support infra structure and some general expenses. Superintendent Kopakowski doesn't know why the budget was defeated, but with so few voting and such narrow yea/nay margins, I wonder if it’s just the luck of the draw, depending on how many of us show up any given year. BOB LOVELL Court House