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Are you from NJ? It seems like you don't know how property taxes work there. Property taxes don't throw disproportionate amounts of cash at poor districts. Property taxes are only spent on the local school districts.
He used to live here, and he understands how property taxes work here.
He did not say that property taxes throw disproportionate amounts of cash at poor districts.
He said "...throwing disproportionate amounts of cash at poor performing districts is a wasted effort."
Which, if you know NJ, is true. Our state income taxes subsidize the education in these poor districts, so we (the state on NJ) can spend a fortune on these poor districts, and at the same time, keep the districts' property taxes relatively low, since they are not funding their own children's education.
Even though we have disproportionally spending buckets full of cash on these poor districts for the last 40 years, they are still the worst school districts in the state.
He used to live here, and he understands how property taxes work here.
He did not say that property taxes throw disproportionate amounts of cash at poor districts.
He said "...throwing disproportionate amounts of cash at poor performing districts is a wasted effort."
Which, if you know NJ, is true. Our state income taxes subsidize poor districts, so we can spend a fortune on these poor districts, and at the same time, keep the districts' property taxes relatively low, since they are not funding their own children's education.
What does any of that have to do with property taxes? Is he just deflecting from the topic of this post? Perhaps he should start another thread.
The reality is that in NJ, the best school districts have relatively high property taxes, as well as a high concentration of professional parents. And NJ has some of the best school.
Even though we have disproportionally spending buckets full of cash on these poor districts for the last 40 years, they are still the worst school districts in the state.
Again, property taxes go to the township/city. They don't have the option to spend the money disproportionally across the state.
What you are talking about has nothing to do with this thread or what the OP is talking about.
What does any of that have to do with property taxes? Is he just deflecting from the topic of this post? Perhaps he should start another thread.
The reality is that in NJ, the best school districts have relatively high property taxes, as well as a high concentration of professional parents. And NJ has some of the best school.
You either don't know anything about NJ, or you are trying to be deceptive. What does "relatively high property taxes" even mean? Are you talking about property tax rates? or are you talking about the nominal number? usually when comparing to districts, you will use the rate. After all, you would expect a $2M home to pay more than a $200K home, but the $200k home can have a much higher rate than the $2M home, hitting the $200k homeowner harder than the $2M homeowner.
In NJ, the best school districts have some of the lowest property tax rates in the state. That is because they are typically in neighborhoods with very high home values. Millburn, NJ has a property tax rate of 1.9%, and often ranked the best school system in the state.
In contrast, neighboring West Orange NJ has a property tax rate about double that of Millburn's property tax rate. So for the same priced home in West Orange, you will pay about double the property taxes that you would pay in Millburn, and the school district in West Orange is ranked about 80th in the state.
And this is not an isolated case. This is the norm, not the exception. Wealthy districts with the best school systems have the lowest tax rates in NJ. And many of the towns on that list with the $200k property taxes, have mediocre school districts (for NJ), at best.
Again, property taxes go to the township/city. They don't have the option to spend the money disproportionally across the state.
What you are talking about has nothing to do with this thread or what the OP is talking about.
You aren't getting it. In NJ, the 31 poorest districts are not funded by property taxes. They are funded by state income tax. The entire state pays for them, not the people of their district.
It is the state income tax that allows poor school districts like the Asbury Park, NJ School District, to spend $42,000 per student per year.
That is disproportionately high. Especially when most of the best school districts in the state are spending half of that, from their own property taxes.
You aren't getting it. In NJ, the 31 poorest districts are not funded by property taxes. They are funded by state income tax. The entire state pays for them, not the people of their district.
It is the state income tax that allows poor school districts like the Asbury Park, NJ School District, to spend $42,000 per student per year.
That is disproportionately high. Especially when most of the best school districts in the state are spending half of that, from their own property taxes.
You're the one not getting it. Why are you discussing school districts not funded by property taxes in a thread about property taxes? You keep taking this thread off-topic.
Rather than discussing what is NOT funded by property taxes... how about actually talking about the thread and property taxes?
You either don't know anything about NJ, or you are trying to be deceptive. What does "relatively high property taxes" even mean? Are you talking about property tax rates? or are you talking about the nominal number? usually when comparing to districts, you will use the rate. After all, you would expect a $2M home to pay more than a $200K home, but the $200k home can have a much higher rate than the $2M home, hitting the $200k homeowner harder than the $2M homeowner.
In NJ, the best school districts have some of the lowest property tax rates in the state. That is because they are typically in neighborhoods with very high home values. Millburn, NJ has a property tax rate of 1.9%, and often ranked the best school system in the state.
In contrast, neighboring West Orange NJ has a property tax rate about double that of Millburn's property tax rate. So for the same priced home in West Orange, you will pay about double the property taxes that you would pay in Millburn, and the school district in West Orange is ranked about 80th in the state.
And this is not an isolated case. This is the norm, not the exception. Wealthy districts with the best school systems have the lowest tax rates in NJ. And many of the towns on that list with the $200k property taxes, have mediocre school districts (for NJ), at best.
I know enough about NJ. I am talking about property taxes. I never said tax rates. For example, I own a lot of investment property in Cranbury, NJ. The property tax rate is relatively low compared to neighboring towns, but the school district (Princeton) ranks fairly high.
West Windsor and Plainsboro have higher property tax rates than Cranbury, but their home values are still high (with Plainsboro not as high as West Windsor or Cranbury) and also have a top ranking school district.
I own property in all of these towns along with Westfield, NJ (again, high property values and good school district).
You can't go by tax rate, alone. You have to pay attention to home values as well because both, combined, determine what people pay in taxes.
I know enough about NJ. I am talking about property taxes. I never said tax rates. For example, I own a lot of investment property in Cranbury, NJ. The property tax rate is relatively low compared to neighboring towns, but the school district (Princeton) ranks fairly high.
West Windsor and Plainsboro have higher property tax rates than Cranbury, but their home values are still high (with Plainsboro not as high as West Windsor or Cranbury) and also have a top ranking school district.
I own property in all of these towns along with Westfield, NJ (again, high property values and good school district).
You can't go by tax rate, alone. You have to pay attention to home values as well because both, combined, determine what people pay in taxes.
I own investment properties as well. I own a commercial property in Union, which is right near Westfield, but the rest of them are more to the north, and down near the shore. I like shore properties because property taxes are usually low, because many of the homes are empty during the winter months so there are less children using the school system, and because you can make enough in 4 or 5 months to cover the expenses for an entire year. But that is why I was surprised to see Long Branch so prominently on that list of high taxes. For whatever reason, some beach towns don't fit the mold.
Are you from NJ? It seems like you don't know how property taxes work there. Property taxes don't throw disproportionate amounts of cash at poor districts. Property taxes are only spent on the local school districts.
I lived in NJ 30 years. Local property taxes only provide a portion of the school funding.
The rest is provided by the state and year after year the rural and suburban districts, along with their elected reps raise hell about being on the short end of the stick.
It's a ridiculously lop-sided redistribution scheme.
Due to the Abbott decision, at one time 16 districts got 66% of the state funding. Not sure what it's like now.
What does any of that have to do with property taxes? Is he just deflecting from the topic of this post? Perhaps he should start another thread.....
If you've ever lived in NJ and paid attention, any time the conversation (or thread about "Liberals ruin everything, #13 is the NJ governor’s house in this case) is about property taxes (like this thread) the way money is spent on schools will inevitably enter the convo among those that know the school funding chaos.
That's all I've got.
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