Senate Republican Budget Officer Declan O’Scanlon has criticized the recent property tax increase in Neptune, New Jersey, calling it the largest in the town’s history. O’Scanlon attributes this hike to decisions made by Democratic lawmakers in Trenton, particularly related to reductions in school aid and changes to state funding caps.
“What’s happening in Neptune is outrageous and unfortunately, predictable, & even more unfortunately…preventable,” said Sen. O’Scanlon. “It’s a direct result of Trenton Democrats’ reckless and irresponsible fiscal mismanagement. After slashing school aid and then implementing arbitrary caps on funding to ram through a bloated, pork-filled budget, Murphy and fellow Democrats left middle-class towns like Neptune to pick up the pieces. Now, families are facing the largest property tax hike in the town’s history.”
O’Scanlon noted his efforts to restore school funding for districts that have lost state aid since fiscal year 2018. He introduced legislation aimed at eliminating a 6% cap on aid increases for these districts for fiscal year 2026.
“Democrats didn’t just drop the ball; they lit it on fire and tossed it to local governments to clean up the mess. This is what happens when you first, fail to fix a deeply flawed and outdated formula, and then purposefully tweak it to screw towns like Neptune, Asbury Park, Eatontown, Middletown, Keansburg…and so many others. It is truly outrageous & heartbreaking what’s being inflicted on the taxpayers in these towns and the children in these schools,” said O’Sacnlon. “These are truly MASSIVE tax increases, and tremendous, education-damaging cuts. And it was all avoidable had the legislators in these districts stood up, rallied their colleagues, worked with Republicans and pushed back on this insanity. Make no mistake, they chose to let these massive tax increases happen.”
He concluded by stating: “Republicans warned this would happen. We offered real solutions. Democrats ignored them and chose political favors over fiscal fairness — and now local taxpayers are paying the price, this is what failed leadership looks like,” O’Scanlon concluded.
