"Fairness for Coastal School Districts in Development Restricted Areas Act"; provides State aid to certain school districts located in municipalities subject to CAFRA.

S4442

SENATE, No. 4442

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JUNE 11, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� CARMEN F. AMATO, JR.

District 9 (Ocean)

SYNOPSIS

���� �Fairness for Coastal School Districts in Development
Restricted Areas Act�; provides State aid to certain school districts located
in municipalities subject to CAFRA.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning State school aid for certain school
districts, designated as the �Fairness for Coastal 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 20 percent of the total acreage of the
municipality is situated in the coastal area as defined in section 4 of
P.L.1973, c.185 (C.13:19-4).�

���� In the case of a regional
school district, a �qualifying school district� means an all-purpose regional
school district in which one or more of the constituent school districts is
wholly located in a municipality in which at least 20 percent of the total
acreage of the municipality is situated in the coastal area and which otherwise
meets the eligibility criteria established by this subsection.�

���� 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 $275 by the number of acres
in the municipality in which the qualifying school district is located that are
situated in the coastal 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 Coastal School Districts in Development Restricted Areas Act,� provides
additional State school aid to certain school districts located in
municipalities that are subject to the provisions of the �Coastal Area Facility
Review Act,� commonly known as �CAFRA.�

���� 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 20 percent of the total acreage of the municipality is situated in the coastal
area as defined in the Coastal Area Facility Review Act.� A qualifying school
district�s allocation of aid under the bill would equal the product of
multiplying $275 by the number of acres in the municipality in which the
qualifying school district is located that are situated in the coastal 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.

���� It is the sponsor�s belief
that development and environmental protections implemented as part of the Coastal
Area Facility Review Act have severely hampered the ability of many coastal
municipalities to expand commercial or high-density residential properties,
thereby limiting their ability 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 S2. �This bill seeks to support those coastal school districts that have
lost State support in recent years and have not been able to benefit from
additional local tax revenue that could have been realized were it not for
strict development limitations imposed by State environmental action.