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Schools

Administration: School Aid Equals Tax Relief

Washington Township, West Morris Regional taking time to best allocate funds.

New Jersey school districts yesterday But there's a twist: the administration wants most of them to use the money for property tax relief.

There still appeared to be some questions as to what actually will be required, if anything. But the governor's office said late in the day that suburban districts receiving extra aid would be "strongly" encouraged to apply the added aid to property tax relief and not necessarily to restoring cut programs.

“The additional education aid included in this year’s budget is an opportunity to reduce property tax burdens by lowering local property tax levies for this fiscal year or the next and move closer toward real reform in our schools," said Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts in a statement.

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The Washington Township School District Board of Education will take some time to figure out the best avenue to direct the additional aid, according to Finance Chair Chance Healy. The district received $409,565 under Christie’s aid plan.

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“We have a bunch of ideas of where this money could go,” Healy said, “but we need to look at everything first and see what’s best for the district and the taxpayers. In this day, that kind of money is a windfall–I’m really happy to see this happen.”

The West Morris Regional High School District, which will receive an additional $458,594, .

“We have a list of programs we’d like to look at and possibly restore,” West Morris Regional Board of Education President Cristen Forrester said, regarding the cuts in positions that were made prior to last school year. “But we need to look at everything first and see where the money is best suited. This is certainly great news for the district.”

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