News
SB Officials Show Support For School Funding Reform
By Ryan Fennell
SEA BRIGHT - Mayor Maria Fernandes, with the Sea Bright Council's consent, has signed and sent a statement of support for the New Jersey League of Municipalities' (LOM) School Funding Reform Initiative.
The LOM has drafted a tax reform concept for school funding reform to remove educational funding completely from property taxes.
The statement of support reads "The concept of removing educational funding completely from the property tax and reallocating those costs to accomplish the constitutional mandate of providing a thorough and efficient education should be accomplished via other state revenue sources."
"This reallocation of funding will result in reducing property taxes by 50 to 60 percent in most cases and eliminate a regressive component of the property tax that has unfairly impacted so many of our New Jersey residents."
The statement also supports the cost per pupil methodology proposed by the joint legislative committee on school funding "as a means to more accurately quantify the cost of education in New Jersey" and "its use as a mechanism to achieve sound educational funding."
"I think this would solve a couple of our problems," Fernandes said. "Not only will it solve our property tax situation but I think it will also solve a lot of these ongoing foreclosures."
"Hopefully, our new Governor-elect Chris Christie will help," Fernandes added.
