Essex County Is NJ’s Biggest Winner In Latest School Aid Proposal

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — There is $10.75 billion in K-12 state aid carved out for hundreds of school districts across New Jersey under Gov. Phil Murphy’s latest budget proposal. And nearly 17 percent of it is headed Essex County’s way.

Essex County will once again get the most school aid in New Jersey if the governor’s 2024 budget proposal remains intact. It’s not even close, either.

Individual school districts in Essex County would get a combined $1.79 billion in K-12 aid, about 9.46 percent more than last year. Read More: NJ School Aid 2023: Who's Getting More, Who's Getting Less

The next-highest totals were for Union County ($1.07 billion) and Passaic County ($1.04 billion).

Not a single school district in Essex County will lose K-12 funding under the governor’s proposal, although the state aid for East Orange will remain flat, the same as it did last year.

Meanwhile, the state’s largest school district – Newark – is also slated to get the most K-12 state aid at $1.14 billion.

Here are the anticipated totals for each public school district in Essex County:

• Belleville - $54,384,062 (23.74% increase)
• Bloomfield - $48,647,386 (6.66% increase)
• Caldwell-West Caldwell - $3,308,617 (13.87% increase)
• Cedar Grove - $2,089,420 (14.96% increase)
• East Orange - $175,087,372 (0% increase)
• Essex County Voc-Tech - $29,961,159 (1.22% increase)
• Essex Fells - $271,825 (11.63% increase)
• Fairfield- $952,647 (16.53% increase)
• Glen Ridge - $2,189,649 (13.01% increase)
• Irvington - $138,417,244 (5.75% increase)
• Livingston - $8,787,890 (19.26% increase)
• Millburn - $6,444,266 (17.12% increase)
• Montclair - $8,757,817 (4.09% increase)
• Newark - $1,149,975,941 (11.01% increase)
• North Caldwell - $964,947 (19.17% increase)
• Nutley - $9,419,915 (18.18% decrease)
• Orange - $110,474,193 (7.82% increase)
• Roseland - $704,010 (23.25% increase)
• South Orange-Maplewood - $9,294,342 (12.15% increase)
• Verona - $2,601,365 (14.91% increase)
• West Essex Regional - $2,669,840 (16.17% increase)
• West Orange - $34,288,620 (16.74% increase)

Property taxes in New Jersey are made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. State aid is meant to ease funding gaps at school districts throughout New Jersey.

The aid is an influential factor in a school district's share of property taxes. Many districts say that cuts, or even flat spending, force them to raise taxes for local homeowners.

• See Related: Highest NJ Property Taxes (See Where Your Town Ranks On New List)

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