"Fairness for School Districts in Development Restricted Areas Act"; provides additional State school aid to certain school districts located in municipalities that are part of Highlands or Pinelands preservation areas.

S4118

SENATE, No. 4118

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 11, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANTHONY M. BUCCO

District 25 (Morris and Passaic)

Senator� LATHAM TIVER

District 8 (Atlantic and Burlington)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Space and Amato

SYNOPSIS

���� �Fairness for School Districts in Development
Restricted Areas Act�; provides additional State school aid to certain school
districts located in municipalities that are part of Highlands or Pinelands
preservation areas.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning State school aid for certain school
districts, designated as the Fairness for School Districts in Development
Restricted Areas Act, and supplementing P.L.2007, c.260 (C.18A:7F-43 et al.).

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� a.� As used in this
section, �qualifying school district� means a school district that:

���� (1) experienced a net loss in State
school aid in the 2024-2025 school year compared to the 2017-2018 school year
pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2018, c.67 (C.18A:7F-68);

���� (2) has a resident enrollment greater
than 500 students; and

���� (3) is located wholly in a
municipality in which at least 25 percent of the total acreage of the
municipality is situated in the Highlands preservation area designated by
subsection b. of section 7 of P.L.2004, c.120 (C.13:20-7) or the Pinelands
preservation area designated by subsection b. of section 10 of P.L.1979, c.111
(C.13:18A-11).�

���� A qualifying school district
shall not include regional school districts other than all-purpose regional
school districts in which one or more of the constituent school districts is wholly
located in a municipality in which at least 25 percent of the total acreage of
the municipality is situated in the Highlands preservation area or the
Pinelands preservation area.�

���� b.� In addition to any other
State school aid provided pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2007, c.260
(C.18A:7F-43 et al.), a qualifying school district shall be eligible to receive
additional State school aid pursuant to this section.� The additional State
school aid shall equal the product of multiplying $250 by the number of acres
in the municipality in which the qualifying school district is located that are
situated in the Highlands preservation area or the Pinelands preservation
area.� A qualifying school district with resident enrollment greater than 500
students but less than 1,000 students, however, shall not receive an allocation
of additional State school aid pursuant to this section that exceeds $2,500,000
in any school year.� A qualifying school district with resident enrollment
greater than 1,000 students shall not receive an allocation of additional State
school aid pursuant to this section that exceeds $5,000,000 in any school year.

���� 2. This act shall take effect
immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year following the
date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill, designated as the �Fairness
for School Districts in Development Restricted Areas Act,� provides additional
State school aid to certain school districts located in municipalities that are
part of the Highlands preservation area or the Pinelands preservation area as
established by current law.

���� As defined by the bill, a
qualifying school district is one that experienced a net loss in State school
aid pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2018, c.67, otherwise known as �S2,� and
has a resident enrollment of over 500 students.� In addition, a qualifying
school district is required to be wholly located in a municipality in which at
least 25 percent of the total acreage of the municipality is situated in the
Highlands preservation area or the Pinelands preservation area.� A qualifying
school district�s allocation of aid under the bill would equal the product of
multiplying $250 by the number of acres in the municipality in which the
qualifying school district is located that are situated in the Highlands
preservation area or the Pinelands preservation area.� The bill limits the
total amount a qualifying school district may receive in a given school year,
however, depending on the number of students enrolled in the district.

���� Development restrictions
implemented as part of the �Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act� and
the �Pinelands Protection Act� have hampered the ability of many municipalities
to collect much-needed property tax revenue that could be used to enhance local
services.� This inability to collect additional revenue acutely affects schools
in these municipalities, especially ones that have recently experienced
significant reductions in State school aid pursuant to P.L.2018, c.67 (commonly
referred to as �S2�).� This bill seeks to support those school districts that
have lost State support in recent years and have not been able to benefit from
additional tax revenue that could have been realized were it not for
development limitations imposed by State action.