Towns willing to talk on changing WW-P tax sharing formula

Consideration given to shifting equalized valuation apportionment to a scheme based on enrollment

By: Emily Craighead
   West Windsor and Plainsboro are open to reconsidering the property-tax apportionment for the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, according to officials in both towns.
   The district uses a complex formula for regionalized school funding apportionment based on real-estate assessments and tax ratios. The alternative is to calculate each municipality’s contribution based on enrollment.
   "There’s a lot to be said for it that way, because you can’t argue about fairness," Plainsboro Deputy Mayor Neil Lewis said.
   West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh also said he would welcome a vote by the public on the issue.
   School board members have met with officials in both townships to discuss creating a task force to examine the issue and decide whether to put it to a vote. Voters in Plainsboro and West Windsor would have to approve the funding change separately, according to state statute.
   Only two of about 100 regional school districts in the state calculate funding on a per-pupil basis, or a combination of per-pupil and property values.
   In 1975, all regional districts were required to base calculations on equalized valuation. Since then, the rules have been relaxed to allow school boards to ask voters to decide which formula to use, or whether to use a combination.
   The reason most often cited by school district and township officials for moving to a per-pupil funding system is to eliminate tax swings from year to year.
   "By doing this, you will not get these abrupt shifts due to revaluation," said Hemant Marathe, school board president.
   For example, a shift in equalized valuation — the state’s estimation of the total market value of properties in each municipality — between the two townships drove school taxes this year in Plainsboro up by 9.1 percent but in West Windsor only by 1.9 percent.
   Sometimes there is a discrepancy between the enrollment and the funding each town contributes. In 2002, 42 percent of the students were from Plainsboro, and Plainsboro contributed 38 percent of the budget. In 1998, 36 percent of the students were from Plainsboro and the township contributed 40 percent of the budget.
   In the 2005-2006 budget, however, the percentage of taxes from each township is roughly the same as the percentage of enrolled students from that township. West Windsor is contributing about $69.5 million — about 57 percent — and Plainsboro is contributing $52.6 million. West Windsor students comprise just under 58 percent of the total number of students in the district this year.
   A change in the regional status of the district is not under consideration.
   No official discussion has taken place at the school board yet, and likely won’t until the two townships submit a formal request.