Manchester Schools Join Coalition Fighting School Aid Cuts

BRICK, NJ — As a bill that would cut aid to dozens of school districts across New Jersey advanced out of committee on Tuesday, a coalition of districts that stand to be hurt significantly, including the Manchester Township School District, is calling on state legislators to take a closer look before they move forward.

Senate Bill S2, proposed by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, would cut so-called adjustment aid to districts across New Jersey in order to push more aid to severely underfunded school districts. Sweeney, who has taken a hard line on the cuts, says districts receiving the aid are overfunded. It was approved by the state Senate Budget Committee and heads to the Senate for a full vote Thursday.

Opponents of the bill say the formula used to determine state aid is severely flawed and doesn't properly calculate wealth and income.

The Brick and Toms River school districts have been vocal in their opposition to the bill, which would result in cuts of $42 million combined over seven years. But they are far from alone, and on Tuesday representatives of 34 other districts affected by the Sweeney proposal joined them in calling for state legislators to take another look, according to a joint news release from the coalition of school districts. (READ MORE: School Aid Fight: Toms River To Lose $18M Under Sweeney Plan; School Aid Fight: Brick To Lose $22M Under Sweeney Plan)

In Manchester, where the school property tax levy funds 82 percent of the school budget and the district receives $5.4 million in aid, the proposed cuts under the Sweeney bill would be devastating to the district, Business Administrator Craig Lorentzen said.

"Depending on which reports you look at, (Sweeney's plan) will reduce our state aid anywhere between $775,000 to $1,400,000 over a period of seven years," Lorentzen said.

"When you compare Manchester to other districts with similar demographics, district factor group, poverty level and median income, we are grossly underfunded in comparison," he said. "This is due to how the state funding formula calculates town wealth and the taxpayers' ability to pay our local fair share. Currently, the wealth calculation in the funding formula uses personal income of residents and property assessments to determine local fair share or taxpayers' ability to pay.

The problem, Lorentzen said, is that more than 70 percent of the population of Manchester is senior citizens living in age restricted communities.

"Those residents have personal income and property value but do not send children to the district. Therefore, when you take our school population in comparison to our total residents, their personal income and property values, we look like a wealthy school district according to the funding formula," Lorentzen said.

Manchester has the 13th lowest median income in the state at $40,259, and is 7.6 percent below the poverty level, he said.

"Clearly, we are not a wealthy school district," Lorentzen said.

"We are still $850,000 below our state funding levels from 2010-2011," he said. "The district received a $2.3 million cut in 2010-2011 that caused a loss of 22 positions, reductions in sports and activities, busing and programs. While the cuts in Senator Sweeney’s plan would be spread over a seven-year period, they could have a similar effect. Especially, in the later years when the cuts get larger."

"Cutting aid through a formula that identifies districts that are 'overfunded' or 'underfunded' based on calculations that are materially flawed doesn't make sense," said William Doering, business administrator for the Toms River Regional School District. "Before taking money away from our students, let's make sure we correct the formula."

"We're asking legislators to take a closer look at all of this before Thursday's vote … if nothing else, to put it off," said James Edwards, business administrator for the Brick Township Schools. "This way, nobody loses, and it gives legislators a chance to evaluate the formula."

Jeffrey Bennett, of the Fair Funding Action Committee, a group backing the Sweeney bill, says the complaints about the revaluations are inaccurate and that county tax assessors compensate for that in an equalized valuation figure that looks at recent property sales to gauge valuation. He also contents the PILOT issue is overstated.

Former state Comptroller Matthew Boxer, in a 2010 report provided to state legislators including Sweeney and current Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, said the net effect of PILOTs on school funding is that other towns and taxpayers across the state end up picking up the tab of property taxes that should have been paid.

"This system allows the municipality, in essence, to hide its true wealth from the school district and the state," Boxer wrote, and hurts schools the most because they receive none of the PILOT money.

The Sweeney bill, S2, would reduce adjustment aid 5 percent for the 2018-19 school year, and reductions of 8 percent in 2019-2020, 10 percent, 14 percent, 18 percent, and 21 percent, with the last portion being cut in the 2024-25 school year.

The bill is the second attempt by Sweeney to cut the aid; last summer, a budget deal between Sweeney, then-Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and then-Gov. Chris Christie led to cuts to that aid — more than $1.4 million in Toms River and $720,000 in Brick. Those funds were later restored by the state Department of Education.

Image via Shutterstock