Rescue Montclair Public Schools
Rescue Montclair Public Schools
The Issue
Year after year, Montclair Public Schools have been faced with a deficit in the district’s budget, leading to mass teacher layoffs, and instability in the lives of our teachers and children.
Our schools are funded over 90% by taxes, and we have a 2% cap on how much the taxes can increase each year. In addition, we are considered a wealthy district, so our state aid is negligible. Because our costs increase by more than 2% annually, we are forced to make painful staff and program cuts every year.
THE STATUS QUO IS NOT SUSTAINABLE
As Montclair continues to build luxury apartments that do not pay school taxes because they pay PILOTs (payments in lieu of taxes), we must ensure schools receive a fair share of these payments, which are outside the 2% cap because they are considered non-tax revenue. Currently, the municipality keeps 95%, sends 5% to the county, and NOTHING to the schools.
Not sharing PILOTs breaks our social contract: everyone in the community supports public schools at a level proportional to their property value. The wealthiest property owners in our town are getting huge property tax discounts through sweetheart PILOT agreements. Thus, instead of sharing revenue with the schools, the Township gives tax breaks to wealthy developers.
Our teachers earn less than our police officers and firefighters, and two of our firehouses have Viking stoves! While the township was buying fancy firehouse stoves, their board of school estimate allowed our schools' infrastructure to crumble.
We, as well as council members, have asked, repeatedly, for data to support the hiring of additional firefighters, and have yet to receive it. Even though 3 firefighters may retire soon, until the MFD provides those data, a decision on hiring should not be made. And until the township has a independent analysis of our risk profile, our needs, and our budgetary considerations, providing additional headcount to the fire department is simply unjustifiable. We cannot support raising the fire department budget by 8% after lowering Glen Ridge's contribution by 9%, and without any data to support this decision.
ENOUGH! WE DEMAND A FAIR SHARE FOR MONTCLAIR SCHOOLS!
2,513
The Issue
Year after year, Montclair Public Schools have been faced with a deficit in the district’s budget, leading to mass teacher layoffs, and instability in the lives of our teachers and children.
Our schools are funded over 90% by taxes, and we have a 2% cap on how much the taxes can increase each year. In addition, we are considered a wealthy district, so our state aid is negligible. Because our costs increase by more than 2% annually, we are forced to make painful staff and program cuts every year.
THE STATUS QUO IS NOT SUSTAINABLE
As Montclair continues to build luxury apartments that do not pay school taxes because they pay PILOTs (payments in lieu of taxes), we must ensure schools receive a fair share of these payments, which are outside the 2% cap because they are considered non-tax revenue. Currently, the municipality keeps 95%, sends 5% to the county, and NOTHING to the schools.
Not sharing PILOTs breaks our social contract: everyone in the community supports public schools at a level proportional to their property value. The wealthiest property owners in our town are getting huge property tax discounts through sweetheart PILOT agreements. Thus, instead of sharing revenue with the schools, the Township gives tax breaks to wealthy developers.
Our teachers earn less than our police officers and firefighters, and two of our firehouses have Viking stoves! While the township was buying fancy firehouse stoves, their board of school estimate allowed our schools' infrastructure to crumble.
We, as well as council members, have asked, repeatedly, for data to support the hiring of additional firefighters, and have yet to receive it. Even though 3 firefighters may retire soon, until the MFD provides those data, a decision on hiring should not be made. And until the township has a independent analysis of our risk profile, our needs, and our budgetary considerations, providing additional headcount to the fire department is simply unjustifiable. We cannot support raising the fire department budget by 8% after lowering Glen Ridge's contribution by 9%, and without any data to support this decision.
ENOUGH! WE DEMAND A FAIR SHARE FOR MONTCLAIR SCHOOLS!
2,513
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on May 14, 2023