Property taxes are going up in some municipalities across New Jersey due to reductions in state funding for certain schools.

The Freehold Regional School District passed an 8.7% tax levy increase Thursday night. Howell settled at 7%. The maximum allowed 9.9% increase is on the table in Jackson Township and Toms River.

All the districts say they reached this point due to flaws in Gov. Phil Murphy’s seven-year funding formula, S2. The formula aims to redistribute aid to underfunded schools.

However, when towns were limited to increasing their tax levies by just 2% each year for the last six years, many of those who lost funding did not raise taxes over the years.

Freehold Regional says it’s the lowest-spending district in Monmouth County but has lost nearly $100 million in state funding over the last seven years. Howell says it’s lost about $50 million.

Board members compared raising the tax levies to paying a ransom note.

"I don't say this lightly, [S2] has put this district on a trajectory that poses a very real threat to the depth and breadth of the student opportunities,” said Superintendent Nicole Hazel.

“I agree with the bones of it and how they're going about it,” said Assistant Superintendent Sean Boyce. “I just think we need to be consistent, predictable and fairly distribute state aid across all districts.”

Freehold Regional says it’ll use the $10 million in extra tax revenue to hire staff and make infrastructure improvements that would have been done years ago. Over the years, they’ve had to cut over 100 employees.

In Jackson, that number was more than 250. Their district could be forced to close an elementary school to balance the budget.

Jackson and Toms River are both looking to sue the state.

Howell Board of Education president Cristy Mangano wrote in a statement, “While I appreciate the state providing districts like ours the one-time opportunity to raise additional capital to offset these losses, it’s often difficult to balance the needs of the district against the community's tolerance for additional taxation.”

The governor said the funding formula will be re-assessed.