Ringwood and the Highlands Act

Protecting Our Water and Funding Our Schools

We live in one of the most beautiful towns in New Jersey, and we love it. The 2004 Highlands Act is a big reason Ringwood looks the way it does. It protects the forests, ridgelines and reservoir that supply drinking water to millions of New Jersey residents, and we are proud to be the ones protecting it.

Since the Act passed, the state's Highlands aid has been cut and our school aid has fallen sharply. We stand by the Act and what it protects, and we are asking Trenton for fair compensation for the role Ringwood plays.

Ringwood Is Protected From the Building Boom

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation, yet new warehouses, apartments and massive AI data centers keep springing up. In Wanaque, developers are building a 272,000-square-foot warehouse. In Wayne, a 1,369-unit housing complex is rising near Point View Reservoir. Sparta is advancing an 880,000-square-foot mega-warehouse. Data centers are the newest part of the boom, with a $1.8 billion AI campus rising in Kenilworth, a 300-megawatt campus in Vineland, and another proposed in South Brunswick. Ringwood is a haven of natural beauty because of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, signed on August 10, 2004. The entire borough is in the Preservation Area, and the Wanaque Reservoir within Wanaque and Ringwood provides drinking water for 3 million New Jerseyans.

Problem One: Highlands Aid Was Cut

The Act came with state aid for Highlands towns. Governor Christie's FY 2011 budget eliminated it, while the development limits stayed in place. Ringwood Democrats have always supported fair compensation for our role protecting the drinking water for millions of residents. In 2025, Governor Phil Murphy signed S-3466/A-4627, making towns that protect vital watershed lands eligible for aid from the Highlands Protection Fund. That was a major step, and our work is not done.

Our ask: A3217, introduced January 13, 2026, would create a permanent state aid program to compensate qualified Highlands towns for losses in vacant land value caused by development restrictions. It is sponsored by Assembly Republicans Jay Webber, Erik Peterson, Brian Bergen, Aura Dunn and Dawn Fantasia and is under review by the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee.

Problem Two: School Aid Has Fallen

Ringwood's state school aid fell from about $2.86 million in 2017-18 to $1.83 million in 2024-25, a 36 percent cut, while enrollment fell 17 percent. Most of the loss is equalization aid, which dropped from $1.14 million to under $80,000.

This did not come from the Highlands Act. It comes from the 2018 school funding law (S2), signed by Governor Murphy, which moved aid toward what the formula says each district should receive. The formula counts a town's property wealth and income as available to pay for its schools, but the Highlands Act limits how much Ringwood can grow its tax base, so the town has little way to replace lost aid.

Ringwood is not alone. Statewide, 55 districts lost more than half their state aid over this period, including shore towns, small rural districts, Pinelands communities and a few cities. The state has begun to acknowledge the problem. Education Commissioner Lily Laux told lawmakers in April that the formula should be more predictable and transparent, and the Department of Education is now conducting its own review of the formula.

Our ask: A4860 and S4118 would provide additional school aid to districts in development-restricted areas of the Highlands and Pinelands. Democratic Assemblywoman Marisa Sweeney (District 25) is a primary sponsor with Republicans Aura Dunn and Alex Sauickie, and Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Angelozzi (District 8) is a cosponsor. A4860 is in the Assembly Education Committee. S4118 had a discussion-only Senate hearing on June 1, 2026, with no vote.

What You Can Do

Neither bill is law yet. Tell your State representatives that you support both and want them to move out of committee: Senator Pennacchio (joe@senatorjoe.com), Assemblyman Bergen (R) and Assemblyman Webber (R).