Sen. Jennifer Beck SHREWSBURY — Concerned with rising school taxes, members of the Shrewsbury community turned to Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) for possible solutions.
Councilwoman Deidre DerAsadourian said at an Aug. 14 special meeting that Shrewsbury has seen a tax increase of about 12 percent toward the Red Bank Regional High School (RBR) District budget.
“RBR is a great school,” she said. “At this point, we’re not looking to make some drastic changes. I think we’re just looking to find some help, legislatively, to close that gap of what we’re paying for RBR.”
In addition to the borough, students from Little Silver and Red Bank attend the regional high school in Little Silver.
According to statistics discussed at the meeting, 190 students from Shrewsbury are attending RBR. Shrewsbury’s share of the regional tax levy is $5.2 million, according to the 2014-15 RBR budget, equating to $28,000 per year, per student under a state formula that is based on the valuation of municipal properties.
According to the district budget, Little Silver’s share of the regional tax levy is $7 million and Red Bank sends $8.6 million to the district.
In addition to Beck, participants in the public forum included Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl, Little Silver Mayor Robert Neff and Fair Haven Mayor Ben Lucarelli.
Beck said overfunding the 31 former Abbott school districts — now referred to as New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) Districts — is detrimental to suburban school districts.
The 31 former Abbott districts receive increased state funding based on a 1985 court ruling that identified the state’s poorest districts based on income and educational inadequacy.
She said the solution for Shrewsbury’s property tax issue is for suburban school districts to receive more aid from the state.
“I don’t mean to be picking on [former Abbott districts],” Beck said. “I just believe there’s a real flaw in the way we’re funding our schools that basically overburdens suburban school districts.”
According to Beck, Asbury Park — a former Abbott district — is spending more money per student than any other school district in the county.
Resident Shaun Broderick asked Beck why the formula for allocating funding couldn’t be changed.
“This whole concept is fundamentally flawed, because the formula at the get-go is wrong,” Broderick said, adding that additional legislation could be needed to “fix” the formula.
Beck responded that she could introduce a bill, but that hundreds of other towns — such as Fair Haven, Red Bank, Little Silver, and Ocean Township — would not be pleased to pay more and the bill would not pass.
“But that’s not a reason not to introduce the bill,” Broderick said. “Even if it doesn’t pass, you have to start the dialogue.”