SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 1929
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MARCH 7, 2022
The Senate Education Committee favorably reports Senate Bill No. 1929 with committee amendments.
As amended, this bill provides a supplemental appropriation from the Property Tax Relief Fund in the amount of $1,135,749 to provide State aid to certain school districts. This amount is added to the fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriation for Stabilization Aid in the Department of Education.
This amount would be appropriated for the purpose of providing State military impact aid to eligible school districts that received a payment of federal Impact Aid under section 7002 or section 7003 of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in the 2019-2020 school year according to the district’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for that school year. As a further condition of eligibility, a school district is required to be: (1) a limited purpose regional school district located in a county of the fifth class, which county has a population density of over 1,300 people per square mile according to the most recent federal decennial census data for 2020, and had current resident enrollment of between 1,300 and 1,350 students during the enrollment count taken on October 15, 2020; or (2) a school district located in a county of the second class, which county has a population of over 500,000 and a population density of under 1,200 according to the most recent federal decennial census data for 2020, and had current resident enrollment of between 2,100 and 2,265 students during the enrollment count taken on October 15, 2020.
Under the bill, aid would be calculated by first taking the difference between an eligible school district’s per pupil local tax levy (PPLTL) and per pupil impact aid (PPIA) amounts. PPLTL is derived by dividing the district’s 2019-2020 school year general fund tax levy by student enrollment expressed in terms of average daily attendance as reported by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools for federal fiscal year 2019, without the inclusion of military enrollment expressed in terms of average daily attendance as reported by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools for federal fiscal year 2019. PPIA is derived by dividing the amount of an eligible school district’s federal impact aid payment as noted in the district’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the 2019-2020 school year by its military enrollment expressed in terms of average daily attendance as reported by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools for federal fiscal year 2019. This difference, if resulting in a positive number, will be multiplied by an eligible school district’s military enrollment expressed in terms of average daily attendance as reported by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools for federal fiscal year 2019.
It is estimated that this supplemental appropriation will provide the Rockaway Township School District and the Tinton Falls School District with military impact aid in the amounts of $320,582 and $815,167, respectively.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to revise the conditions of eligibility for receipt of military impact aid. Specifically, a district is required to have received a payment of federal Impact Aid under in the 2019-2020 school year according to the district’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for that school year. As a further condition of eligibility, a school district is required to be: (1) a limited purpose regional school district located in a county of the fifth class, which county has a population density of over 1,300 people per square mile according to the most recent federal decennial census data for 2020, and had current resident enrollment of between 1,300 and 1,350 students during the enrollment count taken on October 15, 2020; or (2) a school district located in a county of the second class, which county has a population of over 500,000 and a population density of under 1,200 according to the most recent federal decennial census data for 2020, and had current resident enrollment of between 2,100 and 2,265 students during the enrollment count taken on October 15, 2020.
In addition, the committee amended the bill to provide for a revised calculation of State military impact aid. Specifically, the calculation derives a PPLTL by dividing the district’s 2019-2020 school year general fund tax levy by student enrollment expressed in terms of average daily attendance as reported by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools for federal fiscal year 2019, without the inclusion of military enrollment expressed in terms of average daily attendance as reported by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools for federal fiscal year 2019. PPIA is then derived by dividing the amount of an eligible school district’s federal impact aid payment as noted in the district’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the 2019-2020 school year by its military enrollment expressed in terms of average daily attendance as reported by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools for federal fiscal year 2019. This difference, if resulting in a positive number, will be multiplied by an eligible school district’s military enrollment expressed in terms of average daily attendance as reported by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools for federal fiscal year 2019.