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Credit: (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
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In the face of protests and legal challenges, the Murphy administration and legislative leaders have been adamant in staying the course on their multiyear school funding plans that include big increases to previously underfunded districts and cuts to certain districts.
But tucked in as the very last provision in the latest state budget may be a reprieve for those now contesting those cuts, offering some hope although maybe fleeting that their state aid could be restored.
The 279-page budget approved by the Legislature and signed by Murphy last month includes a fine-print provision on its final page that says the state will indeed provide additional funds if it was found to be falling short of certain requirements under the massive federal American Rescue Plan.
Hudson Reporter
Jersey City school board adopts $814.1 million budget
Average homeowners to pay an estimated $993 in school taxes ×
Jersey City Board of Education President Mussab Ali said the district expects to receive roughly $90 million in federal relief aid.
With a 6-3 vote the Jersey City Board of Education has adopted its final $814.1 million budget for the 2021-2022 academic year.
The budget represents a roughly $77.5 million increase from last year’s budget.
According to Business Administrator Regina Robinson, these funds would come from dwindling state aid, federal aid, the payroll tax – which the district assumed would be $86 million this year instead of the certified $65 million – and a roughly 47 percent increase in the local school tax levy.
Jersey City school board adopts massive $814 million budget, increasing taxes for the second straight year
Updated May 11, 2021;
Posted May 11, 2021
Jersey City Board of Education President Mussab Ali holds up a graph at a joint meeting of the school board and the city council.
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Jersey City’s Board of Education finalized its massive $814 million budget for the 2021-2022 school year, raising taxes on the average homeowner by almost $1,000.
The BOE adopted the final budget, which is being increased by $78 million from last year, in a 6-3 vote with little dispute Monday. Board trustees Joan Terrell-Paige, Gina Verdibello, Gerald Lyons, Lorenzo Richardson, Marilyn Roman and board President Mussab Ali voted yes.
Hudson County View
The Jersey City Board of Education approved a fully funded $814,051,708 budget for the 2021-2022 scholastic year at an uncharacteristically brief meeting last night that lasted just over an hour.
There were just three speakers, all of whom are a part of Jersey City Together, during the public portion: Dr. Jyl Josephson, Nancy Pokler, and Brigid D’Souza. As they did last week, they all implored the board to vote for a fully-funded budget.
The spending plan, which narrowly passed on first reading back in March, comes with a $278,019,494 local tax levy – which includes a bank cap of $85,000,000 – and an annual tax increase of approximately $996 per homeowner with an assessed value of about $460,000.