Understanding Englishtown's School Tax Burden: Higher Apportionment and Lower Assessed Values

Superintendent of Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District John Marciante Jr. and Business Administrator Veronica Wolf met with the Englishtown Borough Council on Monday, April 25 to explain the proposed increase in school taxes to the borough of Englishtown. 

School Business Administrator Veronica Wolf clarified how the tax levies are apportioned between Englishtown and Manalapan, something officials say is generally misunderstood. 

Both enrollment and equalized value go into how the taxes are distributed, Wolf said. The state measures equalized value of each community by taking the assessed value of a home and equalizing it across New Jersey so that each town can be compared. Enrollment is defined by the percentage of student residents attending the elementary school district and the high school district. 

In Englishtown, 73 percent of resident students attend the elementary school district and 27 percent attend the high school district. Therefore, 73 percent of a home’s equalized value is allocated to the elementary school district and 27 percent of a home’s equalized value is allocated to the high school district, Wolf said. 

This ratio is then applied to the tax levy in order to indicate how the taxes should be parceled. 

“Unfortunately, you had a slight increase in your apportionment percentage, you went from just under four percent to just over four percent. And, you had a very large decrease in your assessed values (about $7 million). So those two are negatives in how it effects your tax rates, they both drive that percentage of what you’re carrying for your community higher,” Wolf said, addressing Englishtown taxpayers.

The change in the apportionment and the decreased home values make up 3.6 cents of the 5.2 cent increase per $100 assessed value, and and only 1.6 cents of the 5.2 cent increase is due to the school budget. Wolf explained that this is about equal to Manalapan Township, who is seeing only a 1 cent increase in relation to the budget. 

“What is really hurting you is the change in the apportionment, your overall tax levy increase only went up about $73,000,” Wolf said. “How we split the levy has nothing to do with wealth or property values locally, it’s really at the equalized value basis.”

The apportionment must always equal 100 percent, so Manalapan Township’s apportionment percentage decreased the same amount as Englishtown’s increased. More students attend the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School district from Englishtown, by ratio. 

The average assessed property in Englishtown is about $330,000, and the 5.2 cent increase applied to that would mean an average of $171.60 per year, and $119 of that is related to the change in apportionment. 

Superintendent Marciante went over the proposed budget with the council, explaining how the district kept efficiency its top priority.

The district was required to stay within a 2 percent cap imposed by Trenton in an effort to lower property taxes; Marciante explained that the budget meets this requirement. 

State aid for the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School district has decreased approximately 30 percent over the past two years.

“In 2010-2011 we had a 16.78 percent cut in our state aid. And even though this year they talked about increasing the state aid, it was still below what we received in 2009-2010 by 14.17 percent,” Marciante said. “This has been a significant financial crisis that we have been going through, and maintaining our programs and the quality of education while this is going on has been very difficult.”

In order to reduce the budget, four teaching positions were cut at Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School (saving the district about $436,000) and cluster bus stops were implemented for middle school students (reducing the budget $722,000).

The majority of the district funding comes from the tax levy and the next largest portion of the budget comes from state aid, Marciante explained. The bulk of the budget finances instruction at roughly $44 million. 

No reductions in academic programs were made this year, and all activity fees that were  put into effect last year have been suspended for next year’s proposed budget. 

“For many families [the activity fees] are a significant burden. There are parents in the middle school who have two children and they have three sports or two activities --they are paying close to $300 in fees. So, that’s a significant positive move for the district and the community,” Marciante said. 

Field trips will no longer have to be paid for by the parents, three guidance counselor positions will be restored, and three elementary school teachers will be brought back next year. Last year, class size had to increase due to budget cuts, and this year the additional state aid allows for class size to reduce once again, according to Marciante. 

The Academic Enrichment program will be expanded so that more children can participate and the “Project Read” initiative will continue. Additionally, the teachers will attempt to continue to work with the supplies they currently have in their classrooms, no additional supplies will be purchased. 

To fully review the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District 2011-2012 budget, click here.