Governor Mikie Sherrill has signed New Jersey’s Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations Act, approving a $60.7 billion state budget that focuses on affordability, education, tax relief, and fiscal responsibility without raising taxes on individual residents. The budget includes more than $4.1 billion in property tax relief through the ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, and revamped Stay NJ programs, with increased benefits for lower- and middle-income seniors. It also boosts the state’s Child Tax Credit by 25 percent for the next three tax years, makes a full $7.3 billion pension payment for the sixth consecutive year, and maintains a surplus of more than $6 billion while reducing the state’s structural deficit to $1.35 billion.

The spending plan provides a record $12.4 billion for K-12 public schools and a record $1.4 billion for preschool education, while increasing funding for children’s mental health initiatives, high-impact tutoring, and school-based support programs. It also allocates $6.9 billion for NJ FamilyCare, expands childcare assistance, restores funding for the Summer Tuition Aid Grant program, and invests in affordable housing, veteran housing, and homelessness prevention efforts.

The budget also increases operating support for NJ Transit to nearly $1.1 billion and provides approximately $2.1 billion for transportation infrastructure projects, including highway, bridge, and transit improvements. Governor Sherrill said the budget delivers on her administration’s commitment to making New Jersey more affordable while maintaining fiscal discipline, emphasizing that it cuts the structural deficit in half, preserves a healthy surplus, and avoids tax increases for individual New Jerseyans. Legislative leaders praised the budget as a balanced plan that prioritizes property tax relief, education, fiscal stability, and investments benefiting families across the state.