How Do Property Takes Fund Our Schools?

Building off the last post about how schools are funded, let’s focus on how our property taxes support our schools here in Washington Township. This happens in two ways:

Local School District Tax:

Each year, the district requests “The Local District School Tax” from the township, which is the portion of property taxes that directly fund our schools. This tax pays for everything we need to run schools each day: teachers, classroom supplies, transportation, utilities, and support staff. You can think of it as the district’s annual “ask” from the town to make sure our schools can operate smoothly and safely for every students.

Bonds:

Bonds are like a mortgage. When voters approve these bond referendums, the district borrows money for major renovations, new buildings, or big upgrades. We then pay those bonds back over time through our property taxes. This is in a separate line item on the school budget called “debt service.”

How does this actually work in Washington Township?

• Our 25-26 local district school tax is $40.6 million, which covers most of our operating costs.

• We also have about $2M in “debt service,” (or bond repayments) which is the community’s ongoing payment for building projects (like repaving school parking lots and installing AC units over the summer).