Ridgewood School Taxes Would Drop $4,200 Under Christie’s Proposed ‘Fairness Formula’

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — The average village homeowner stands to save more than $4,200 in annual school taxes under Governor Christie’s proposed Fairness Formula.

The formula, which was announced last week, would equalize per pupil spending across the state and decrease annual property taxes by thousands of dollars in many municipalities.

The plan aims to change the amount of state aid per pupil to a flat amount of $6,599. Its purpose is to alter the disproportionate amount of state funding allocated to Abbott school districts, which are located in “poorer, urban” areas of the state, and increase graduation rates in those districts.

Ridgewood’s potential savings under the plan would be the second most in the county, according to the governor’s office. Only Tenafly taxpayers stand to save more, about $4,500 annually. According to Governor Christie, New Jerseyans pay the highest annual property taxes in the United States at more than $7,300.

Superintendent Daniel Fishbein said a lot of “statewide legal hurdles have to occur before we can be assured that we will have the proposed amounts of funding.”

According to Christie, an estimated 75 percent of municipalities would see more state aid and residents who live in those communities would see their annual property tax bill drop.

The plan has been met with immediate opposition. The New Jersey Education Association called it “despicable” and an idea that would set the state’s progress in education back decades.

An interactive website has been created that breaks down the plan’s projected effect on every municipality in the state and how the formula works.

Christie said he is planning on traveling across the state this summer to discuss the plan with residents.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Sign up for Patch N.J. email newsletters here.

(Photo via Morguefile)