By Mark Rosman
Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN – Municipal officials’ concern regarding the share of the tax levy Allentown may be required to pay the Upper Freehold Regional School District in 2017-18 could be headed for court.
On Oct. 25, members of the Borough Council voted to authorize Borough Attorney Greg Cannon to appeal the Director’s Table of Equalized Valuation which indicates Allentown’s share of the school district’s tax levy will rise from 14.26 percent in 2016-17 to 14.31 percent in 2017-18.
Council President Wil Borkowski has said that given the fact that the school district’s tax levy generally increases each year, the larger share that is owed by Allentown property owners will translate into a higher tax for those property owners. He said Allentown officials and property owners need a better way to know what their school taxes will be.
Borkowski, Councilman Robert Strovinsky, Councilwoman Angela Anthony, Councilwoman Madeline Gavin and Councilman Rob Schmitt voted to authorize Cannon to pursue the appeal at a cost not to exceed $5,000.
Councilman Johnna Stinemire was absent from the meeting.
As recently as the 2015-16 school year, Allentown’s property owners paid 13.04 percent of the school district’s tax levy.
Cannon said he has not been able to find a reported case of another municipality in New Jersey that has found itself in the same situation as Allentown with respect to the Director’s Table of Equalized Valuation.
“I can’t say what will happen” with an appeal, the attorney said. “It could get thrown out the first day or it could end up in the Supreme Court.”
The share of the tax levy Allentown pays to the school district is based in part on home sales during a defined period one year before the apportionment rate takes effect. Officials said a small sample size of home sales and a condensed time period of when those sales occur is hurting Allentown.
“Volatility in the system disproportionally affects small towns,” Cannon said.
Schmitt said, “We have no room for error. Mr. Cannon should don his armor and go to war” on this matter.
The increase in the apportionment percentage from 2015-16 to 2016-17 translated to an increase of about $530 in an Allentown property owner’s school taxes from August 2016 through July 2017.
Borough officials said they would do what is necessary to address the issue for 2017-18 and that promise is what led to their approval for Cannon to file the appeal.
Allentown and Upper Freehold Township comprise the Upper Freehold Regional School District and share the costs of operating the Newell Elementary School, the Stone Bridge Middle School and Allentown High School.
Gavin and Mayor Greg Westfall said they recently met with representatives of the school district to discuss budget matters, but came away with no resolution of information regarding the 2017-18 school budget.
In response to an inquiry from the Examiner, Upper Freehold Regional Superintendent of Schools Dick Fitzpatrick said, “The Allentown council invited us because of their issues with determining their property values and how the increase in the values of their properties was impacting their tax rate. The first time this happened occurred last budget year and they have been in contact with the state to discuss their issue.
“Unfortunately, the increase in the values of their property has raised their taxes, but it is not in any way related to our budget. … We remained under the 2 percent cap from last year and because property values in Upper Freehold Township remained stable or slightly lower, the township had a reduction in its taxes. The state has provided an avenue to address this, but again, it does not relate to our budget,” Fitzpatrick said.
The Upper Freehold Regional School District Board of Education adopted a $41.07 million budget for the 2016-17 school year. The budget is supported by the collection of $25.19 million in taxes from residential and commercial property owners in Upper Freehold Township ($21.6 million) and Allentown ($3.59 million).