West Orange Schools May Lose State Aid (Here’s How Much)

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange Public School District may lose 2.05 percent in state aid under the latest budget proposal from Gov. Phil Murphy.

The governor’s office released its aid projections for K-12 schools for fiscal year 2025 this week. Nearly 200 New Jersey schools could see five-figure increases if the spending plan crosses the finish line intact. Read More: Biggest Boosts, Cuts To NJ Schools Under New Aid Plan (See The List)

Murphy also announced funding for expanded preschool access, free school meals and student-teacher stipend and recruitment efforts as part of his annual budget address earlier this week. See Related: 5 Big Takeaways From Murphy's Budget Address

West Orange schools would get $33,585,837 in state aid, which is down from this year’s $34,288,620. It would be earmarked as follows:

• Equalization Aid - $22,607,826
• Transportation Aid – $3,033,009
• Special Education Aid - $6,078,649
• Security Aid - $1,866,353

The only other school district in Essex County that would lose state aid under the latest proposal is the Essex County Vocational-Tech system.

This year's proposed cut comes after West Orange saw a large increase last year, when it got an additional $4,915,635 from the state (about 16.74 percent).

Property taxes in New Jersey are generally made up of three parts: school, municipal and county.

State aid is an influential factor in a school district's share of property taxes. Many districts say that cuts – or even flat spending – forces them to raise taxes for local homeowners. Read More: Property Taxes In West Orange (See Latest 5-Year Breakdown)

Here’s how West Orange's taxes broke down in 2023, according to the latest state data:

• School – 61.4%
• Municipal – 26.7%
• County – 11.9%

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