Schools
Democrats' Budget Plan Would Provide Much Greater Funding to Some Districts
Closer look shows South Brunswick could benefit from millionaire's tax.
Now on an 11th-hour collision course with Gov. Chris Christie, the Democratic leadership of the legislature has advertised its state budget proposals as ones that will provide property tax relief to every community by way of new school aid.
Yet a breakdown of how each district will fare shows that there will be a lot more relief for some than for others, due, in part to the disparate ways that schools have been funded for years. Some districts would get double, even triple, their expected state aid under the Democrats’ plan, while others would see just a small fraction of an increase.
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The Millionaire's Tax
The last component of additional state aid to schools may prove the most elusive. In a separate bill and likely the biggest battle of the next few days, the Democrats have proposed the millionaire's tax to provide an additional $458 million to 423 mostly suburban schools. With that revenue, it would bring all districts up to full funding under the Democrats plan.
Again that would mean different amounts to different districts, according to the OLS analysis. Linden would see the most in all, or $12.2 million, followed by another $7.6 million in Edison and $6.1 million in Hillsborough. Yet there are also more than 60 districts that would see increases of less than $100,000, from Corbin City to North Caldwell.
