Bergen County Republican Freeholders 2019

On Gov. Murphy’s Visit to Hackensack

Bergen Freeholders Blast Democrats’ State School Aid Plan 

                                                                                            June 3, 2019

(Hackensack, NJ) If Gov Phil Murphy is really interested in relieving he crippling property tax burden in for middle class families in Bergen County he will address the gross inequities in state education that provides little money for Bergen school districts and taxpayers, say the Bergen County Freeholder candidates.

Murphy is visiting Hackensack today to discuss his plans to raise taxes while proposing to help middle class taxpayers.

Bergen Freeholder candidates Corrado Belgiovine, Alyssa Dawson and Katie Cericola said Bergen County the leading cause of high taxes in Bergen County is the lack of adequate state school aid. They said the Bergen County Democratic freeholders continual fail to raise the education funding inequity with Murphy or the Democratic-controlled legislature, demonstrating their ineffectiveness to work for taxpayers.

Belgiovine, of Woodcliff Lake, pointed out that in the 2018-19 school year; all the school districts in Bergen County received combined $267.83 million in state aid. Of that sum $58.86 – or 20 percent — of the state funds went to one town — Garfield – leaving the remaining 69 towns and regional school district to split $209 million.

“The school funding inequity is one that we will fight to address when we are elected,” said Belgiovine. “Gov. Murphy has no clue what the tax burden is on middle class families in Bergen County. People are fleeing this state in droves to escape high property taxes; and the Democrats have no intention of cutting spending and addressing school funding inequity.”

Dawson noted that Bergen, the state’s most populous county, receives less money than any major county and less than most cities in the state. “Bergen homeowners are being crushed with ever increasing property taxes and no Democrat – and specifically no Democrat on the county freeholder board – has ever lifted a finger to help Bergen’s school children or taxpayers get their fair share of school aid,” said Dawson, a Westwood resident.

The Bergen Republicans pointed to the following aid figures to show how much Bergen County is shortchanged on state education

• Camden City, with a population of 74,420 — received $282 million in state education aid in the current school year. Bergen County’s population is more than 900,000.
• Jersey City received $406.9 million; Paterson received $426 million. The City of Passaic with a population of about 70,000 received $240.6 million.

• Hackensack, by comparison, received just $19 million.

Compared to other Counties, Bergen is lagging appreciably:

• Essex County received $1.28 billion in school aid.
• Hudson County got $931 million.
• Camden County got $719 million
• Union County – $702 million; Middlesex County took in $622 million.

“The Bergen Democrats are either unaware or unwilling of addressing Bergen’s school funding gap.” said Cericola. “They and Gov. Murphy talk a lot about the state’s middle class, but I don’t think they really understand who the middle class are and how much they are suffering.”

The Bergen Republicans pointed out that with so little state aid awarded to the county’s school districts, homeowners, businesses and renters, are forced to finance more than 90 percent of their school district’s costs, while many urban district residents pay no more than 15 percent to 20 percent of their school costs.

“Bergen County is being punished under an incredibly inequitable school aid system – and neither the governor nor the Democratic freeholders have the courage to address it,” said Belgiovine.

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