BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer
Municipal officials from three towns were expected to meet on May 16, to discuss a financial issue involving the Freehold Regional High School District.
Representatives of the Freehold Township, Colts Neck and Marlboro governing bodies were expected to get together in Freehold Township to discuss and review the allocation of the tax levy for the eight municipalities in the high school district, according to Freehold Township Committeeman Raymond Kershaw.
This is an issue that has been mentioned for several years, most prominently by municipal representatives of Freehold Township.
Specifically, the three towns that were involved in the meeting last night each pay more of the FRHSD tax levy, on a percentage basis, than the number of students, on a percentage basis, that they send to the district.
The FRHSD has a total enrollment of about 11,700 students in six high schools. For the 2006-07 school year, the high school district will operate with a $158.5 million budget. Property owners in the eight towns that make up the district will pay a total tax levy of $100.8 million.
The tax levy is not divided equally among the eight towns, nor is it assessed strictly based on the number of high school students a particular municipality sends to the district, Kershaw said.
The division of the FRHSD tax levy is based on a state formula dating to the 1980s that has been modified several times, he said. It takes into account a municipality’s assessed value as well as the number of elementary school and high school students who live in that community.
According to Kershaw, Freehold Township provides 15.6 percent (approximately 1,825) of the district’s students and pays 18.3 percent of the tax levy. Marlboro provides 23.6 percent (approximately 2,761) of the students and pays 24.9 percent of the tax levy. Colts Neck provides 5.2 percent (approximately 608) of the students and pays 10.4 percent of the tax levy.
The remaining towns provide the following percentage of students and the tax levy:
+ Howell provides 28 percent (approximately 3,276) of the students and pays 21 percent of the tax levy.
+ Manalapan provides 21 percent (approximately 2,457) of the students and pays 20 percent of the tax levy.
+ Freehold Borough provides 4.7 percent (approximately 550) of the students and pays 3.7 percent of the tax levy.
+ Englishtown provides .83 percent (approximately 97) of the students and pays .57 percent of the tax levy.
+ Farmingdale provides .58 percent (approximately 68) of the students and pays .62 percent of the tax levy.