WASHINGTON – (RealEstateRama) — Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerset) welcomed today an extraordinary statement by Democratic lawmakers urging the Senate and Assembly leadership to take a different approach to the school funding formula.
“I could not be more pleased that Democratic legislators have finally spoken out against the state’s dramatic disparity in school funding,” said Ciattarelli. “The fact is, the state’s school funding formula is blatantly unfair and violates the rights of some communities under our constitution’s Equal Benefit clause.”
The letter, sent to state Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto on Tuesday, was signed by Sen. Nilsa Cruz Perez and Assemblywoman Patricia Egan Jones. The Camden legislators specifically called out Jersey City in the letter.
“Jersey City is over funded by a whopping $122 million – all while Jersey City’s tax abatements and PILOT programs in 2014 alone shelled out more than $80 million to wealthy real estate developers,” said Perez and Jones, who also called for hearings on the issue.
Ciattarelli pointed out that an $800,000 home in Jersey City pays less in property taxes than a $300,000 home in many blue-collar, working class homes throughout New Jersey.
“We’ve got an inequity that requires immediate attention,” concluded Ciattarelli. “We will never solve the property tax crisis in New Jersey until there is honest discussion on how the state funds nearly 600 school districts.”
Source: Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli
