Property taxes increase in New Jersey towns as state slashes school funding

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Property taxes are going up in municipalities across New Jersey due to a lack of state funding for certain schools. The Freehold Regional School District passed an 8.7% tax levy increase Thursday night. Howell settled at 7%. The maximum allowed 9.9% increase is on the table in Jackson Township and Toms River. All the districts say they reached this point due to flaws in Gov. Phil Murphy’s seven-year funding formula, S2. The formula aims to redistribute aid to underfunded schools. But when towns were limited to increasing their tax levies at just 2% each year for the last six years, those who lost funding didn’t make it up. Freehold Regional says it’s the lowest-spending district in Monmouth County but has lost nearly $100 million in state funding over the last seven years. Howell says it’s lost about $50 million. Board members compared raising the tax levies to paying a ransom note. RELATED: Jackson Township school in danger of closing due to $18M budget shortfall RELATED: Toms River School District sues state over lack of sufficient education funding "I don't say this lightly, [S2] has put this district on a trajectory that poses a very real threat to the depth and breadth of the student opportunities,” said Superintendent Nicole Hazel. “I agree with the bones of it and how they're going about it,” said Assistant Superintendent Sean Boyce. “I just think we need to be consistent, predictable and fairly distribute state aid across all districts.” Freehold Regional says it’ll use the $10 million in extra tax revenue to hire staff and make infrastructure improvements that would have been done years ago. Over the years, they’ve had to cut over 100 employees. In Jackson, that number was more than 250. Their district could be forced to close an elementary school to balance the budget. Jackson and Toms River are both looking at suing the state. Howell Board of Education president Cristy Mangano wrote in a statement, “While I appreciate the state providing districts like ours the one-time opportunity to raise additional capital to offset these losses, it’s often difficult to balance the needs of the district against the community's tolerance for additional taxation.” The governor said the funding formula will be re-assessed. "