Veto School Aid Cuts Bill, 10th District Legislators Urge Murphy

BRICK, NJ — A bill that would strip millions in aid from the school districts in Brick, Toms River, Manchester and Lakehurst was approved by the New Jersey Legislature on Thursday, and now 10th District legislators are calling on Gov. Phil Murphy to veto it.

Senate Bill 2, sponsored by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, would strip so-called adjustment aid from more than 100 school districts and redistribute the funding to districts around the state that are severely underfunded.

The Senate passed the bill 25-13 with two members not voting, while the Assembly voted 54-17 with four members not voting and four abstentions to pass the bill and send it to Murphy.

Brick would lose $22.5 million, a reduction of 63.7 percent; Toms River would lose $18.6 million, a 27.7 percent reduction; Lakehurst would lose $920,000, a reduction of 15.3 percent, and Manchester would lose $582,000, a 10.7 percent reduction, Sen. Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Dave Wolfe and Greg McGuckin, the 10th District legislators, said in a news release.

“The plan approved by Democrats in the Legislature to cut $42.5 million in state aid from our school districts will decimate the quality of education in our classrooms and result in massive property tax increases,” Holzapfel said. “Governor Murphy should do the right thing and veto this patently unfair legislation.”

A news release from the legislators said the cuts are reductions to state aid distributed from the New Jersey Property Tax Relief Fund to local school districts to help reduce property tax bills.

"These massive reductions to our state aid represent a direct assault on property taxpayers," Wolfe said. "Our residents pay into the Property Tax Relief Fund through the New Jersey income taxes they pay, with the expectation they’ll get it back in state school aid to their offset property tax bills. This effort by Democrats to redistribute our aid to their school districts is theft pure and simple."

Sweeney, who has been pushing to slash adjustment aid since 2017, insists districts receiving the funds are not paying their fair share of property taxes to support their school districts.

But representatives of affected school districts say the formula that determines how aid is distributed is severely flawed. Components such as wealth and income are not calculated fairly; the formula fails to take into consideration PILOTs (payments in lieu of taxes, paid by developers to towns instead of property taxes); and more than 30 towns have not had property revaluations -- a key facet in determining need -- in more than 25 years. (READ MORE: School Aid Fight: Toms River To Lose $18M Under Sweeney Plan; School Aid Fight: Brick To Lose $22M Under Sweeney Plan)

On Tuesday, 34 districts from around the state joined representatives of the Brick and Toms River schools in calling for legislators to vote against the bill.

McGuckin warned that the legislation will drive property taxes higher as school districts are forced to compensate for the diversion of local aid, if the measure is not vetoed by the governor.

“We’ve calculated that the Trenton Democrats’ plan calls for school taxes to rise by $754 in Brick and by $918 in Toms River,” McGuckin said, figures based on the median property assessment in the towns.

“I urge every resident who believes they already pay enough in property taxes to call the Governor’s Office and demand that he veto S-2.”

The video below is Holzapfel's remarks following the vote.

Image via Shutterstock