At the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s (NJBIA) Public Policy Forum on Friday, legislative leaders discussed several strategies to address affordability in New Jersey. One proposal that received attention was the mandatory consolidation of smaller school districts as a way to reduce property taxes.
Senator Vin Gopal (D-13) has been advocating for this approach, which also has the support of Governor Mikie Sherrill and NJBIA. “I get how politically tough of an issue this is and we’re always going to meet with people to discuss it,” Gopal said at the event, which drew 450 attendees. “But New Jersey – and as a Democrat, I’ve been saying this – has way too much government. And we can do a lot on the contracts and services side.”
Gopal introduced bill S-4861 late last year. The bill would require executive county superintendents to create plans for merging districts with fewer than 500 resident students and establishing or expanding regional school districts. The aim is to cut administrative costs and create a uniform curriculum.
Gopal clarified that he was not proposing county-wide schools but pointed out areas where cost savings could be realized. He cited discussions with local superintendents about high special education costs and declining student enrollment in some districts while budgets have increased. “Why should two school districts neighboring each other have the same healthcare broker, yet they’re negotiating for two sets of employees? Why do we have IT departments in all these places? Why do we have a municipal court every five minutes? These are just common-sense things,” he said.
In recent years, New Jersey has tried to encourage voluntary consolidations through financial incentives or funding feasibility studies but has seen limited results. “Incentives don’t work,” said Gopal, who chairs the Senate Education Committee.
School taxes made up 52% of local property taxes collected in 2024 according to state data. The FY26 state budget includes approximately $15 billion in school aid—more than one quarter of all state spending approved for the current fiscal year.
Christopher Emigholz, NJBIA Chief Government Affairs Officer, expressed strong support for forced consolidations: “We strongly support forced consolidations, incentives to consolidate, forced shared services or anything that pushed New Jersey in that direction,” Emigholz said. “Because when we talk about such steps, these are true spending cuts – not just a Band-Aid.”
Althea D. Ford, NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs, added: “we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that our educational quality can improve for students.” She suggested merging K-8 only districts into unified K-12 systems could allow more efficient use of resources and continuity in curriculum.
Under Gopal’s bill, Department of Education commissioners would have six months to approve or reject mandatory consolidation plans submitted by superintendents; rejected plans would need revisions within 30 days before resubmission. Each approved plan would then require a feasibility study funded by the state to ensure regionalization does not lead to segregation and that consolidated districts remain geographically close.
Gopal stated his willingness for voter approval on mergers.
Governor Sherrill campaigned on reducing costs through district consolidation: “We have more municipalities than California, and we have more school districts than municipalities, and it’s raising costs on everybody,” she said during a September debate. “We have some school districts that have the whole administrative costs, all of the buildings, and yet they’re not even running a K-12 school system so we do need to merge some of these school districts…”
The NJBIA serves as the largest statewide employer organization in New Jersey representing businesses across sectors such as manufacturing and services since its founding in 1910 (source). Headquartered in Trenton (source), it offers advocacy and essential resources while fostering collaboration between businesses, government entities, and educational institutions (source). Michele Siekerka currently leads NJBIA as president and chief executive officer (source).
