Bergen County Homeowners Paying the Price for New Jersey's Broken Funding Formula

Bergen County Homeowners Paying the Price for New Jersey’s Broken School Funding Formula

Bergen County homeowners are being crushed by sky high property taxes caused by New Jersey’s deeply flawed school funding formula. School taxes make up the largest portion of our property tax bills, placing an enormous burden on middle-class families and senior citizens struggling to stay in their homes. What's most disappointing is the silence from our own County Commissioners, the very people who should be fighting for relief on our behalf.

For years, Bergen County school districts have been shortchanged by the state’s broken funding formula. The result? When Trenton fails to send our fair share of school aid, local taxpayers are forced to make up the difference. This year alone, Bergen County homeowners are shouldering a staggering $2.6 billion in local school taxes, the highest in New Jersey. Meanwhile, Middlesex County pays $1.7 billion, and Essex County just $1.33 billion. How is that fair to Bergen County families?

Despite paying the highest property taxes in New Jersey, Bergen County school districts receive the least amount of state school aid in return. Think about that — this year, Bergen County will get just $505 million in school aid, while Essex County will receive $2.07 billion, and four other counties will collect over $1 billion each. As someone who is serving for nearly a decade on a local Board of Education, I’ve seen firsthand that this system is broken. This isn’t “fair funding”, it's a redistribution scheme that punishes responsible fiscal management and forces Bergen County taxpayers to subsidize failing districts, all while our own communities struggle under crushing tax burdens.

Here’s the bottom line: when one county pays the most but gets the least, something is seriously wrong. For the families, teachers, and children of Bergen County, this isn’t just a budget issue, it’s a fairness issue. This system doesn’t work and it won’t change until we elect County Commissioners willing to take on Trenton and fight for Bergen County’s fair share.

John Dinice
Candidate for Bergen County Commissioner