The League is communicating with state agencies and suggests reaching out to Legislators about concerns on how implementing state changes in school funding may lead to delays in certification of municipal budgets to county tax boards, raising admin costs.
We would like to call your attention to the Tuesday GovConnect notice, sent by the Department of Community Affairs, Division of Local Government Services (DLGS), to your municipal clerk, CFO, and Tax Collector. This notice states that, as a result of the change in school funding associated with the State’s newly adopted FY 2019 budget, certain school districts will be receiving increased aid. Since the Department of Education has yet to name these districts, the DLGS will delay the certification of municipal budgets to the County tax boards.
Unfortunately, this could delay property tax bills across the state, extending the payment date while increasing administrative costs to municipalities. This is happening at the same time that municipalities have mandatory payment of the county and schools for the levy collection. The League is communicating these concerns to the respective state agencies and we would suggest advising your Legislators of the same.
Contact: Michael F. Cerra, Assistant Executive Director, mcerra@njslom.org, 609-695-3481, Ext. 120.