Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

SEA BRIGHT FACES ‘UNBEARABLE’ TAX HIT

By WIL FULTON

Post-Sandy challenges continue to pile up for the ravaged beach community of Sea Bright, this time in the form of a school tax hike via the Shore Regional High School district.

Borough property owners can expect a 13-percent increase, to 54 cents per $100 of assessed value, meaning that the average home, assessed at $344,696, would pay $1,861 for high school alone.

The rate perpetuates the dramatic disparities in the amounts paid by each of the district’s three sending towns. Sea Bright would pay some $90,000 per borough student at the school, whereas Monmouth Beach, Oceanport and West Long Branch would pay just $12,000 to $13,000, said Mayor Dina Long.

As in the past, the figures are the result of a disputed regional school tax formula about which Sea Bright officials and residents have long complained. Moreover, said Long, they reflect pre-Sandy property assessments, and not the post-Sandy reality.

“The regional school tax formula has been a problem before,” Long told redbankgreen. “It was painful before, but now after Sandy, it’s unbearable.”

The increase, if adopted, would have Sea Bright paying 15 percent of the school’s $15.7 million budget, with West Long Branch paying 32.3 percent, Monmouth Beach 25.1, and Oceanport paying 15.8. However, each town face a differing rate change, with West Long Branch’s taxes increasing 5 percent, Monmouth Beach’s less than 1 percent, and Oceanport’s going down nearly 2 percent 1.9 percent.

 “This isn’t the school’s fault,” said Long. “The tax formula is created by the Department of Education, and then approved by the district. The major problem this year is the fact that the numbers represent pre-Sandy numbers, and don’t reflect the devastation our properties have seen across the board. We’ve lost 20 percent of our taxable base.”

According to Long, there are three possible solutions to the problem:  the state Education Commissioner could step in, legislation could be introduced to change the formula, or the school board itself could decide to change it.

Long said she made multiple efforts to change the formula as a member of the borough council, and has had no more success this go-around than in her past efforts.

Applying for a Community Disaster Loan, one potential measure that Long said has been brought to her attention by several sources, would provide an offset, but wouldn’t be the solution to the problem, she said.

“The only solution, as we see it right now, is to change the formula,” she added. “I don’t consider it fair that residents of Oceanport and West Long Branch are paying $12,000 to $13,000 a head, while we have to pay $90,000, especially now.”

In an effort to change the situation, Long said she has been working the phones, connecting with the Governor Chris Christie’s office and other state and county legislators, trying to hold a meeting as soon as this week to bring attention to the problem.

Though Long acknowledged that the other towns in the school system are sympathetic to Sea Bright’s cause, she said they are accepting of the formula and believe it to be something that just can’t be changed.

“It’s just another week in Sea Bright,” Long said. “We’re just rolling with the punches.”

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...
WHAT? NO redbankgreen NEWSLETTER?
Apologies to redbankgreen newsletter subscribers: the daily email hasn’t gone out for two days because of technical issues.
RED BANK: TIRED OF SKEETERS?
RED BANK: Tired of mosquito bites every summer? Monmouth County has a free program to help eliminate skeeter breeding grounds.
SEA BRIGHT: POLAR PLUNGE FOR ST. JAMES, OTHERS
Hundreds braved the wind and sea on Sunday at 1PM in support of St. James Elementary School, and other Catholic schools in the area. The eve ...
RED BANK: RBR CLAIMS TITLE
RED BANK: Watch pure joy as the RBR boys basketball team celebrates its first B North championship in 17 years.