As you can see, most of these districts are at the Shore. Thirty of the fifty are in Cape May, Atlantic, Ocean, or Monmouth Counties. These districts have very few students and large property valuations, hence no need to tax their residents very highly.
It isn't something that gets a lot of attention, but Jersey Shore microdistricts districts are among the worst aid hoarders in New Jersey. In some cases they get tens of thousands of dollars per student when they need virtually nothing. Allenhurst, for instance, has four students and yet gets $47,475 in state aid! Allenhurst's school tax rate is 0.0060! Cape May Point also has four students and yet gets $26,803. Cape May Point's school tax rate is 0.0082.
Another nine districts are Abbotts. The Abbotts with the low Local Tax Levies are Irvington, Newark, Bridgeton, Passaic, West New York, Jersey City, Union City, Camden, Vineland, and Hoboken.
Before you condemn the Abbotts for getting a tax bargain courtesy of taxpayers statewide please consider that most of them actually have high municipal taxes. Irvington, for instance, has a general tax rate of 4.136. Bridgeton has a general tax rate of 4.151. On the other hand, Jersey City and especially Hoboken are exploiting taxpayers statewide, hurting lower resource districts, and this should be condemned. Jersey City taxes at a third of its Local Fair Share; Hoboken taxes at 21% of its Local Fair Share. Jersey City's general tax rate is 2.291, Hoboken's is a very low 1.403.
Only a few of these districts are conventionally wealthy, such as Alpine, North Caldwell, and Harding. For these districts to spend at their full Local Fair Share would be crazy - if Alpine taxed at its Local Fair Share it would have over $200,000 per student. If Harding taxed at its full Local Fair Share it would spend $85,000 per student.
Italicized = non-operating. Bold = Abbott
(Figures for "Local Fair Share" factor in a district being something other than K-12.)
| District Name | County | Local Fair Share | Local Tax Levy | Percent of Local Fair Share Taxed | Student Pop. |
| IRVINGTON TOWNSHIP | ESSEX | $37,723,297 | $17,459,529 | 46.28% | 7,348 |
| LAKEHURST BORO | OCEAN | $2,434,311 | $1,088,776 | 44.73% | 530 |
| SOUTHERN REGIONAL | OCEAN | $95,428,678 | $42,545,911 | 44.58% | 2,940 |
| BEDMINSTER TWP | SOMERSET | $34,791,462 | $15,099,326 | 43.40% | 795 |
| EDGEWATER BORO | BERGEN | $38,679,063 | $16,582,328 | 42.87% | 938 |
| EAST ORANGE | ESSEX | $44,660,845 | $18,950,050 | 42.43% | 10,474 |
| MILLVILLE CITY | CUMBERLAND | $26,258,781 | $11,097,656 | 42.26% | 6,021 |
| MILLBURN TWP | ESSEX | $181,130,096 | $74,808,608 | 41.30% | 4,881 |
| PATERSON CITY | PASSAIC | $97,149,177 | $38,955,956 | 40.10% | 27,889 |
| SOMERSET HILLS REGIONAL | SOMERSET | $72,366,894 | $28,969,733 | 40.03% | 2,015 |
| GLOUCESTER CITY | CAMDEN | $8,751,000 | $3,484,198 | 39.81% | 2,074 |
| ASBURY PARK CITY | MONMOUTH | $16,502,549 | $6,505,623 | 39.42% | 2,337 |
| RUMSON BORO | MONMOUTH | $36,852,943 | $13,961,354 | 37.88% | 989 |
| BRIDGETON CITY | CUMBERLAND | $9,625,854 | $3,637,144 | 37.79% | 5,645 |
| WILDWOOD CREST BORO | CAPE MAY | $18,478,211 | $6,619,118 | 35.82% | 296 |
| PASSAIC CITY | PASSAIC | $47,311,355 | $16,818,577 | 35.55% | 14,818 |
| WEST NEW YORK TOWN | HUDSON | $42,681,660 | $14,860,598 | 34.82% | 7,537 |
| VINELAND CITY | CUMBERLAND | $63,736,430 | $21,731,439 | 34.10% | 9,885 |
| WEST CAPE MAY BORO | CAPE MAY | $2,555,658 | $842,710 | 32.97% | 85 |
| AVON BORO | MONMOUTH | $9,927,073 | $3,267,084 | 32.91% | 198 |
| JERSEY CITY | HUDSON | $335,745,966 | $109,961,901 | 32.75% | 33,717 |
| UNION CITY | HUDSON | $48,593,609 | $15,418,637 | 31.73% | 11,818 |
| MONMOUTH BEACH BORO | MONMOUTH | $12,713,019 | $4,005,256 | 31.51% | 295 |
| ROCKLEIGH | BERGEN | $2,594,637 | $777,847 | 29.98% | 31 |
| HARDING TOWNSHIP | MORRIS | $31,097,756 | $9,254,883 | 29.76% | 483 |
| MARGATE CITY | ATLANTIC | $36,139,003 | $10,511,408 | 29.09% | 459 |
| NORTH WILDWOOD CITY | CAPE MAY | $21,201,289 | $6,131,619 | 28.92% | 328 |
| ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS BORO | BERGEN | $37,969,466 | $10,277,713 | 27.07% | 553 |
| CAMDEN CITY | CAMDEN | $28,068,813 | $7,449,009 | 26.54% | 15,750 |
| INTERLAKEN | MONMOUTH | $3,396,057 | $835,397 | 24.60% | 37 |
| FAIRFIELD TWP | CUMBERLAND | $3,078,470 | $754,016 | 24.49% | 615 |
| OCEAN CITY | CAPE MAY | $96,496,993 | $21,965,332 | 22.76% | 2,095 |
| LAVALLETTE BORO | OCEAN | $16,792,324 | $3,600,931 | 21.44% | 193 |
| BAY HEAD BORO | OCEAN | $13,493,324 | $2,893,085 | 21.44% | 135 |
| HOBOKEN CITY | HUDSON | $187,075,236 | $39,426,390 | 21.08% | 2,639 |
| BEACH HAVEN BORO | OCEAN | $8,104,904 | $1,666,389 | 20.56% | 80 |
| SEA GIRT BORO | MONMOUTH | $21,363,869 | $4,214,209 | 19.73% | 178 |
| SPRING LAKE BORO | MONMOUTH | $33,994,524 | $6,072,464 | 17.86% | 271 |
| ALPINE BORO | BERGEN | $33,818,844 | $5,818,441 | 17.20% | 168 |
| SADDLE RIVER BORO | BERGEN | $48,204,780 | $7,659,027 | 15.89% | 193 |
| LONG BEACH ISLAND | OCEAN | $44,619,512 | $5,754,105 | 12.90% | 250 |
| DEAL BORO | MONMOUTH | $17,212,918 | $1,967,702 | 11.43% | 161 |
| SEASIDE PARK BORO | OCEAN | $5,951,882 | $613,281 | 10.30% | 36 |
| CAPE MAY CITY | CAPE MAY | $15,801,869 | $1,574,143 | 9.96% | 163 |
| STONE HARBOR BORO | CAPE MAY | $30,768,648 | $2,396,585 | 7.79% | 82 |
| LONGPORT | ATLANTIC | $15,252,421 | $994,872 | 6.52% | 41 |
| SEA ISLE CITY | CAPE MAY | $34,151,452 | $1,827,302 | 5.35% | 88 |
| AVALON BORO | CAPE MAY | $59,473,862 | $3,078,694 | 5.18% | 63 |
| CAPE MAY POINT | CAPE MAY | $3,831,214 | $39,058 | 1.02% | 3 |
| ALLENHURST | MONMOUTH | $4,770,971 | $39,073 | 0.82% | 3 |
See Also:
This is my post on the Highest Taxed School districts in New Jersey.
For More Information, please review Local Tax Levies and Local Fair Share Compared:
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