School Tax Reckoning Coming
On a chart in Tuesday’s Courier News, the Plainfield school district was conspicuous among the 62 districts listed. It was the only one with a zero increase in state aid for 2007-08.
Assemblyman Jerry Green has been warning residents for quite a while that property owners may see an increase in school taxes. In 1999-2000, state aid was $55 million. It is now just under $100 million. And yet the local tax levy, year after year, has stayed below $18 million.
In a 2005-06 comparison of the three Plainfields, North Plainfield received 40 percent of its budget in state aid, 3 percent in federal aid and taxpayers came up with 56 percent. South Plainfield residents paid79 percent of the school budget, while state aid accountedfor 18 percent and federal aid was 3 percent.
But in Plainfield, state aid was 82 percent of the budget, federal aid was 4 percent and local school taxes made up only 13 percent of the budget.
The district has seen state aid increases as high as 17 percent in recent years, but with the new emphasis on helping suburban districts, Plainfield’s share is likely to flatten or decrease.
The only new local tax revenues on the horizon are those from proposed condo developments. Presenters of condo proposals stress that they are looking for seniors or childless professionals to inhabit these pricey digs and so the developments will not likely add to the school population. But will these double-income-no kids households become the front line in combating rising school taxes? Time will tell.
--Bernice Paglia
Assemblyman Jerry Green has been warning residents for quite a while that property owners may see an increase in school taxes. In 1999-2000, state aid was $55 million. It is now just under $100 million. And yet the local tax levy, year after year, has stayed below $18 million.
In a 2005-06 comparison of the three Plainfields, North Plainfield received 40 percent of its budget in state aid, 3 percent in federal aid and taxpayers came up with 56 percent. South Plainfield residents paid79 percent of the school budget, while state aid accountedfor 18 percent and federal aid was 3 percent.
But in Plainfield, state aid was 82 percent of the budget, federal aid was 4 percent and local school taxes made up only 13 percent of the budget.
The district has seen state aid increases as high as 17 percent in recent years, but with the new emphasis on helping suburban districts, Plainfield’s share is likely to flatten or decrease.
The only new local tax revenues on the horizon are those from proposed condo developments. Presenters of condo proposals stress that they are looking for seniors or childless professionals to inhabit these pricey digs and so the developments will not likely add to the school population. But will these double-income-no kids households become the front line in combating rising school taxes? Time will tell.
--Bernice Paglia
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posted by Bernice at 7:32 AM
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