Bill Text: NJ A1075 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires certain tax-exempt institutions to reimburse school districts for the local educational costs of students who reside in tax-exempt institutional facilities and are enrolled in the district.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2010-11-08 - Withdrawn from Consideration [A1075 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A1075-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman REED GUSCIORA
District 15 (Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain tax-exempt institutions to reimburse school districts for the local educational costs of students who reside in tax-exempt institutional facilities and are enrolled in the district.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the educational costs of students residing on certain tax exempt property and supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Fair Share School District Expense Act."
2. The Legislature finds and declares that under R.S.54:4-3.6 institutions of higher education located within the State are exempt from property taxation and in certain municipalities large institutions house employees and students in buildings and facilities which are currently tax-exempt. Some of these employees and students have children who are enrolled in the school district in which the institution is located and due to the tax-exempt status of the institution, the cost of providing an education to such students must be borne by the taxpayers of the district, despite the fact that the institution of higher education may have substantial resources with which to contribute toward the educational costs of their resident students. The Legislature therefore further finds that it is only fair and equitable that institutions of higher education be held responsible for funding the local share of the educational costs of their resident students.
3. a. Notwithstanding any provision of law or regulation to the contrary, a public or independent institution of higher education located within the State shall annually make a payment for any student who resides in a tax-exempt facility located on property owned by the institution and who is enrolled in a public school district. The amount of the payment shall equal the district's per pupil general fund local levy amount for the budget year.
b. Annually, by November 1 of each budget year, the board of education shall notify an institution of higher education of the number of students enrolled in the school district who reside in a tax-exempt facility owned by the institution, based on the resident enrollment count conducted on the last school day prior to October 16 of the current school year. The district shall also notify the institution of the per pupil general fund local levy amount for the budget year and the total payment owed to the district by the institution. The institution shall forward payment to the board of education within 60 days of receipt of the notice of required payment.
c. The amount received by a school district pursuant to this section shall be held in a special revenue account and shall be appropriated in the subsequent year's budget submitted to the Commissioner of Education pursuant to subsection c. of section 5 of P.L.1996, c.138 (C.18A:7F-5).
4. This act shall take effect for the 2008-2009 school year.
STATEMENT
In the past the Legislature has adopted special measures to ease the tax burden on municipalities which house State facilities or which must support students residing in governmental facilities and which are exempt from municipal taxation. A similar hardship exists in the case of municipalities in which institutions of higher education are located and which must educate the children of the institution's employees and students who reside within the tax-exempt facilities of the institution.
This bill would address the above problem by requiring a public or independent institution of higher education to annually make a payment for any student who resides in a tax-exempt facility located on property owned by the institution and who is enrolled in a public school district. The amount of the payment will equal the district's per pupil general fund local levy amount for the budget year.
Under the bill's provisions, annually by November 1 of the budget year, a board of education would notify an institution of higher education of the number of students enrolled in the school district who reside in a tax-exempt facility owned by the institution. The district would also notify the institution of the per pupil general fund local levy amount for the budget year and the total payment owed to the district by the institution. The institution must forward payment to the board of education within 60 days of receipt of the notice of required payment. The funds received by the district would be held in a special revenue account and would be appropriated in the subsequent year's budget to help offset local property taxes.
This bill would simply require tax-exempt institutions of higher education to pay for the local educational costs of their resident students and would not otherwise impair or reduce the present tax-exempt status of these institutions of higher education.
