Cut in State School Aid = Raise Property Taxes, Eliminate 2% Cap

NEW JERSEY – Lawmakers say they have just the plan to quell the uproar over school aid cuts in New Jersey. And it's one that has a familiar theme.
Under a new plan from the state's top lawmaker, more than 190 school districts may be able to raise taxes as much as they want to make up for school funding losses.

Senate President Steve Sweeney said this past weekend that he will introduce legislation to provide property tax cap relief for districts that are facing cuts.

Sweeney was referring to a 2 percent cap set by the Gov. Chris Christie administration in 2010 on how much money school districts can raise through property taxes.
A number of school districts have struggled to stay within the cap – especially since the Gov. Phil Murphy administration and state Legislature changed the school funding formula last year that brought severe cuts to suburban districts.

Indeed, Toms River has even talked about cutting its fabled sports programs so it can make up for the funding losses. Read more: Sports, Clubs, Kindergarten At Risk In Toms River School Aid Cuts
"We need to ensure that students do not suffer in districts that are now taking cuts after receiving more than their fair share of state aid for more than a decade," Sweeney said at the Saturday meeting.

Sweeney also said lawmakers will continue to work to consolidate nearly 300 school districts as a way to save money. Read more: Renewed Push On Plan To Eliminate 275 NJ School Districts

(Mullica Twp. School is on the merge/eliminate list)

Already, some lawmakers – particularly Republicans – are crying foul over the idea. Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean said a proposal to lift New Jersey's 2 percent property tax cap is the wrong answer to counter major school funding cuts that are hitting many districts.

"I disagree with the Senate President's suggestion that the solution to the school funding crisis is to let property taxes spiral out of control as they did in the years prior to the passage of the successful 2 percent cap," Kean said. "We need to change the school funding formula in order to help school districts lower some of their largest and fastest-growing costs."

 Sweeney stressed that the cap relief bill does not change his commitment to ramp up to full funding of the School Funding Reform Act for underfunded districts.
"New Jersey's public schools are ranked the best in the country, but many schools throughout the state do not receive the appropriate funding required to live up to our reputation," Sweeney said. "Statewide, 342 districts are underfunded by $1.7 billion and are paying $536 million more in property taxes than called for by the school funding formula. At the same time, 228 districts are overfunded by $659 million. Fairness requires us to move forward to fix that inequity."

Under the 2019-20 school aid plan, about 197 school districts experienced decreases. A number of districts protested the changes, and many of them even appeared at the State House earlier this year, just as Murphy was giving his budget address, to voice their displeasure. Read more: Toms River Sends 27 Buses To Support Our Students Rally
State aid weighs heavily in many districts' decisions on raising local property taxes. Many often say that aid cuts or flat spending from year to year gives them cause to raise what are already the highest property taxes.


Below (at link ) is the complete list of school districts  (578 ),  ranked based on their decreases and increases in aid (and tax hike possibility, from top to bottom).
The first number is the percentage decrease or increase in aid; the second is the amount of aid; the third is the loss or gain in aid dollars:

198.  Mullica Twp, Atlantic 0.00%  $5,481,097  $0

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