The Jackson Board of Education on Tuesday night signaled that it would vote to increase property taxes by 10% in the township under a new law allowing it to do so in order to make up for a severe budgetary shortfall.
Speaking at the meeting, BOE President Nicole Pormilli said she expects the State not to help unless the district “avails itself of all revenue” – referring to the potential tax increase, an indication that they feel cornered and must raise property taxes if they want the State BOE to assist Jackson further.
The legislation signed into law by Gov. Murphy earlier Tuesday allows districts to have tax cap flexibility to restore funding loss from the past four years under S-2. The adjusted tax levy would be no more than the difference between a school district’s state aid for the 2024-2025 school year as compared to the 2020-2021 school year.
Essentially, it allows townships to raise property taxes by up to 10% in a single year – far higher than the regular 2% annual cap – to make up for funding lost to their school districts through the S-2 cuts. For Jackson and Toms River residents, this could amount to a hefty tax increase, as their school districts each lost more than $20 million in state funding between the 2020-2021 school year and the 2024-2025 school year.