November Referendum Information

The Ocean Township Board of Education has placed a question on the November 8, 2022 election ballot.  This ballot question will ask the voters of Ocean Township to determine whether the school district is permitted to increase taxes by $840,000 to offset some of the 4.7 million dollars of State Aid that has been cut by the State of NJ over the past five years.

ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE:  Only residents of Ocean Township who are registered to vote by October 18, 2022 may cast a ballot in the November 2022 election.  You can check your voter registration status here: Am I Registered to Vote?

If you need to register to vote in Ocean Township you can register online here:  Online Voter Registration Form    Or you can submit a paper registration form found here: Paper Voter Registration Form.   In order to be eligible to vote in the November election you must be registered no later than October 18, 2022.

INTERESTED IN VOTING BY MAIL:  This year the election process reverts to the pre-COVID procedures – there is no longer universal vote by mail.  If you did not change your ballot status to Vote by Mail in All Elections prior to COVID and you would like to elect to vote by mail going forward you will need to file a form with the County Elections Board.  That form can be found here: Vote by Mail Ballot Application

What is the question on the November Ballot?

The Ocean Township Board of Education seeks to increase the tax levy by $840,000 for the purpose of maintaining employment of 8 classroom teachers currently funded by expiring Federal COVID Grant funds.  Since the implementation of the 2018 revised state school funding formula, the Ocean Township School District realized a cumulative loss of state funding of $4.7 million to date.  Approval of this question will allow for maintenance of current class size guidelines of less than 28 students per class in Kindergarten through 6^th grade. These expenditures are in addition to those required to achieve New Jersey Student Learning Standards.  Approval will result in a permanent increase in the district’s tax levy. 

Why is the district asking for these funds?

Since 2018, the school district has experienced a reduction in state aid funding of $4.7 million or over 20% of its budget as of the 2022-2023 school year.  It will experience an additional reduction of another $1 million over the next two school years.  This means that while the State used to fund 38% of the district’s operations, it will soon only fund 7% of the district’s operations.

Why has the state made these state aid cuts to the district?

In 2018 the legislature passed a law known as S2 that redistributed school funding over a seven year period of time to districts that were experiencing high levels of student enrollment growth.  Until this law was passed a school district was held harmless if the funding law determined a school district was entitled to less funding to limit the impact to school operations or taxpayers.  A school district could be entitled to less funding for three main reasons: a reduction in student enrollment, an increase in property values and an increase in resident total income.  With the changes in Ocean Township over the past twenty years the school district was impacted by all three factors which then triggered the reduction in state aid.

Before 2018, to limit the impact to school operations or taxpayers, a school district was held harmless if the funding law determined a school district was entitled to less funding.  That year, the legislature passed a law, known as S2, which redistributed school funding over a seven year period to districts that were experiencing high levels of student growth.  On the other side, a school district could have its funding reduced for three main reasons: a reduction in student enrollment, an increase in property values and an increase in resident total income.  With the changes in Ocean Township over the past twenty years the school district was impacted by all three factors which then triggered the reduction in state aid.

For Additional Information Please Select this Link to our Question and Answer Document

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