Jersey City Payroll Tax Nets Big for Schools

$86 Million Fuels City Plan to Stabilize District Avoid Tax Increases and Layoffs

JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop announced more than $86 million will be yielded from the city’s new payroll tax this year which will anchor its plan to stabilize the educational needs for the 30,000 public school students as the state continues its massive cuts in aid.

City officials have confirmed that the Payroll Tax, instituted in 2018, will generate $86,010,956 to put forward to the 2020-21 school year, over $50 million more than yielded a year ago as the city continues to work with the Board of Education in its budget crisis.

“We believe the $86 million, which represents more than twice the amount the payroll tax raised for the schools a year ago, will go a significant way in solving part of the crisis created when the state began making cuts to schools across New Jersey with its reconfiguration of formulas,” Mayor Fulop said. “However, there is still a lot of hard work to do on our end, and the Board of Ed, when it comes to budget management and dealing with this real crisis now and into the future.”

Three weeks ago, Mayor Fulop and Ward D Councilman Michael Yun unveiled a $250 million dollar Jersey City School Funding Action Plan that will provide a steady revenue stream to the school district, while simultaneously saving taxpayers from increased rates. The plan includes belt-tightening measures on the city’s part, the payroll tax receipts, and pooling all monies generated through prior tax abatements, which the city has not granted in the last three years.

“Since the city adopted the payroll tax in the fall of 2018, our tax department has made an extraordinary effort to collect close to $90 million dollars designated specifically for the school district,” Councilman Yun said. “As they continue to collect these funds on behalf of our children’s education, the Jersey City Municipal Council is continuing our examination of the city budget, seeking areas where there are potential dollar cuts that won’t mean service cuts for our community or to our city workforce. These are merely the first of many steps that the City of Jersey City is taking to gain the trust of the Trustees at the Board of Education so that we can meet the needs of our children’s future.”

About two years ago the state alerted the city that it was cutting more than $170 million from the Jersey City Public Schools, whose student body utilizes over 40 schools. The cuts have increased with the recent announcement of an adjusted state aid formula where Jersey City saw more funding cut than any other school district two years in a row. Since 2018, the district will have lost $120 million by the close of the 2020-21 school year.

“We rolled up our sleeves to take on this crisis, and we’ve shown we can and are more than willing to do our part to protect our children’s education and their futures,” Mayor Fulop said.