Ocean Gate School District Seeks 27% Tax Increase To Prevent Closure

Voters will decide Jan. 27 whether Ocean Gate School District can raise property taxes by 27%. Without it, the only school in town shuts down. State aid cuts carved out a $700,000 hole in the budget, leaving the 149-student district scrambling to survive.

The tax jump would hit homeowners hard — $636 extra each year, or $53 monthly, if your house is assessed at $413,297. Reject this at the ballot box, and the district can't balance its books. State takeover follows, then closure.

Richard Casey, school board president, points to years of shrinking state money as the culprit. State aid plummeted from $951,000 in 2019-20 down to just $367,000 this year. That's nearly $600,000 gone over six or seven years, while student numbers climbed 13%.

"Over the past six years, Ocean Gate has endured devastating state aid," Casey said in a statement, according to NJ.com. "These cuts have crippled our ability to plan long-term, stabilize programs, and protect staff."

Casey drew a stark comparison. "To put it simply, it's like taking a double-digit pay cut every year and still being expected to maintain the same household budget," he added. "It's unsustainable, unpredictable, and unfair to our students, teachers, and taxpayers."

New Jersey rolled out a revamped school funding law in 2024. The goal? Move dollars from districts getting too much toward those getting too little. But Ocean Gate got squeezed. Combine the cuts with surging health insurance costs and surprise building repairs, and you've got a crisis.

Kevin O'Shea, the district's business administrator, told the school board in October that trimming one or two positions won't fix this mess. The district runs on skeleton staffing already, sharing services wherever possible just to keep doors open.

Board members have slashed staff, tightened operations, and partnered with neighboring districts on shared services over the years. Talks of merging with Berkeley Township School District have surfaced, but nothing concrete has happened yet.

The proposed tax hike has split this tiny borough wide open. About 2,023 people live here, packed into less than half a square mile. Some worry that seniors and working families already drowning in property taxes can't handle more. Others praise the school's small classes and tight community feel.

"These conversations are not easy," Casey said. "But they are necessary if we want to protect our school and plan responsibly for the future."