By Mark Rosman
Staff Writer
The $41.07 million budget the Upper Freehold Regional School District Board of Education has adopted for the 2016-17 school year is going to have a significant impact on the school taxes paid by residents of Allentown over the next 12 months.
The budget will be supported by the collection of a total of $25.19 million in taxes from residential and commercial property owners in Upper Freehold Township and Allentown. Other revenue in the budget includes $5.65 million in state aid and $260,000 from surplus funds (savings).
The board adopted the budget on April 27.
In 2015-16, the school district collected $3.23 million in taxes from Allentown’s residential and commercial property owners, according to Business Administrator Margaret Hom. The average home in the borough was assessed at $289,233 and the school tax rate was $1.689 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the borough average paid $4,885 in school taxes.
In 2016-17, the school district will collect $3.59 million in taxes from Allentown’s residential and commercial property owners. The average home in the borough is assessed at $288,582 and the school tax rate will be $1.874 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the borough average will pay $5,406 in school taxes – an increase of $521.
The increase reflects a change in the distribution of the tax levy, Hom said, adding that Allentown is now paying a higher percentage of the total.
“We are trying to work with Allentown in any way we can,” she said.
Allentown Mayor Greg Westfall said the entire process that has assigned a greater share of the regional school district’s tax levy to the borough has been “very troubling.”
“We have contacted Assemblyman Rob Clifton and Assemblyman Ron Dancer and are awaiting their response” in the hope of meeting with state officials who can address the matter, Westfall said.
Out of more than a dozen property sales that occurred in Allentown between Jan. 1, 2015 and June 30, 2015, state taxation officials used three home sales to come up with a net equalized value for the borough. That calculation moved Allentown’s share (apportionment rate) of the school district’s tax levy from 13.04 percent to 14.26 percent, according to the mayor, who said the 1.22 percent increase has made all the difference in a very difficult way for residents.
The average assessed property in the borough will be seeing an almost $530 increase in its school property tax. This represents an increase of 10.9 percent for the average assessed Allentown property, Westfall said.
By the time borough officials discovered what had occurred, it was too late to appeal the decision for this year, the mayor said. The state Division of Taxation develops the net equalized value and apportionment rate for all New Jersey municipalities by Oct. 1 of each year. Municipalities are able to appeal that rate for 45 days thereafter, he said.
Westfall said some members of the Borough Council are now considering opting out of the Monmouth County Assessment Demonstration Program due to their belief that the town’s participation in the program may be what led to the current situation involving the increase in school taxes.
The tax bill a property owner receives in August will show the exact amount he will pay in school taxes for the next year, depending on the assessed value of his property.
The school district’s 2016-17 budget will have much less of an impact on residents in Upper Freehold Township.
In 2015-16, the school district collected $21.47 million in taxes from Upper Freehold’s residential and commercial property owners, according to Hom. The average home in the township was assessed at $464,100 and the school tax rate was $1.76 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average paid $8,169 in school taxes.
In 2016-17, the school district will collect $21.6 million in taxes from Upper Freehold’s residential and commercial property owners, according to Hom. The average home in the township is assessed at $465,000 and the school tax rate will remain $1.76 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the township average will pay $8,184 in school taxes – an increase of $15.