Assemblyman Alex Sauickie and Assemblywoman Aura Dunn testified Monday before the Senate Education Committee in support of legislation that would direct additional state aid to school districts in municipalities subject to Highlands and Pinelands development restrictions.
The bill, the Senate companion to their bipartisan Assembly legislation (A4860), received a discussion-only hearing. The measure would provide supplemental aid to districts that have lost funding under New Jersey’s school funding formula and operate in communities where state preservation requirements restrict development.
Sauickie told lawmakers that Highlands and Pinelands school districts face a structural disadvantage because state land-use policies limit their ability to generate new property tax revenue through development.
“For years, New Jersey has asked Highlands and Pinelands communities to preserve land, protect drinking water and safeguard environmental resources that benefit the entire state,” Sauickie (R-Ocean) said. “These communities stepped up and did the right thing. Now the state must do the right thing for their schools.”
Sauickie argued that the 2018 school funding reform known as S2 assumed municipalities could offset reductions in state aid through growth in local property tax revenue, an option unavailable to many preservation communities.
“The state cannot tell a municipality it cannot develop its land and then expect it to replace lost school aid through growth-generated property taxes,” he said. “Those two policies are fundamentally incompatible.”
The legislation would provide additional aid to districts with more than 500 students that have lost funding under S2 and are located in municipalities where at least 25% of the land is preserved under Highlands or Pinelands protections. Aid would be tied to preserved acreage and capped.
Dunn said the proposal addresses an inequity facing communities that have accepted development restrictions for the benefit of the state.
“These districts have done everything the state asks of them,” Dunn said. “They budget responsibly. They operate transparently. They make painful decisions in public meetings, under the scrutiny of parents and taxpayers who care deeply about their schools. The least the state can do is treat them with the same honesty and fairness.”
Dunn said communities including Jefferson, West Milford, Ringwood, Shamong, Plumsted, Jackson and Lacey have borne the brunt of years of aid reductions while facing limits on their ability to expand local tax ratables.
Local officials, school leaders and advocates from across the Highlands and Pinelands regions joined lawmakers in urging the committee to advance the legislation.
The lawmakers said funding cuts have forced schools to raise property taxes, close buildings, reduce staff and scale back educational programs.
“New Jersey families can handle hard truths,” Dunn said. “What they can’t handle are surprises that blow holes in school budgets, force school closures and leave parents wondering what gets cut next.”
Sauickie and Dunn pledged to continue building bipartisan support for the measure as it moves through the legislative process.
