2019 State Aid For Asbury Park Area Schools: Will Taxes Rise?

Looks like the days of getting little help from New Jersey – and possibly raising taxes to make up for the budget shortfall – will continue for more than 190 school districts this year. And Jersey Shore are districts won't be the exception (see list below).

Gov. Phil Murphy's administration this past week released the proposed state aid numbers for every school district in the 2019-20 school year. Indeed, 197 school districts would have a decrease under his school funding plan, and they may need tax increases to make up the differences.

Read more: These 190-Plus Districts May Face Tax Hike: NJ School Aid Figures

Overall, state aid would increase 2.43 over the 2018-19 school year under a plan that requires approval from the state Legislature. That number would be smaller than the 3.5 percent increase Murphy originally proposed last year, but that original plan had no state aid cuts for any district.

Read more: 6 Points In NJ Gov. Phil Murphy's Budget Address That Affect You

Murphy was ultimately forced to revise his agenda and put forward a plan that cut aid to 171 districts in the 2018-19. Senate President Steve Sweeney got the upper hand in his push to fully fund a number of districts that had been promised more money for years.

A number of districts protested the changes, and many of them even appeared at the State House this week, just as Murphy was giving his budget address, to voice their displeasure. Read more: Toms River Sends 27 Buses To Support Our Students Rally

Here's how local school districts did under Murphy's proposed aid plan for the 2019-20 school year:

1. #63 Asbury Park City, Monmouth -6.45% $49,739,416 -$3,426,828
2. #78 Point Pleasant Boro, Ocean -5.63% $5,485,987 -$327,367
3. #142 Belmar Boro, Monmouth -2.69% $938,579 -$25,894
4. #255 Point Pleasant Beach, Ocean 1.14% $590,412 $6,664
5. #335 Manasquan Boro, Monmouth 4.05% $750,415 $29,191

A number of local officials voiced support for the state aid proposal. Mayor Michael Soriano of Parsippany Troy-Hills said the budget "continues to take a proactive and studied approach towards the goal of a school funding formula that is fair to every municipality, district, parent, teacher and student in our state."

"I want to thank him (Murphy) for his courage on this issue; tackling a decades-long problem is never easy, but these first steps continue our state’s movement towards equality,” he said.

Some districts, however, were already protesting the numbers. Superinendent Charles Sampson of the Freehold Regional High School district, whose district is losing $3.78 million, a 7.52 decline, called the process "flawed."

"Formula deeply flawed, not transparent an artificially inflated," he tweeted. "Gutting one of most efficient models in New Jersey."

Senator Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Dave Wolfe and Greg McGuckin blasted the new cuts to local school aid, calling his proposal “severely flawed.” They expressed serious concern that property taxes will be forced higher as schools districts attempt to preserve the quality of education in their classrooms.

“Fair funding for all students in New Jersey is lost on Governor Murphy and his administration,” said Holzapfel. “Continuing this pattern of cuts year after year creates a ripple effect in the community, which impacts everyone from the student to the taxpayer. This is not a fair funding formula, in fact, it is severely flawed and these political games stand to hurt our children the most.”

According to the recently released State aid numbers, school districts within the 10th Legislative District will lose over $5.5 million in state aid next. The biggest cuts will come at the expense of the Brick and Toms River school districts, which will lose more than $2.7 million each, they said.

“We just want our school districts, the students they serve, and our local taxpayers to be treated fairly,” added Wolfe. “Brick and Toms River have been fiscally responsible, spending less than the state average to deliver a quality education."