Wealthy New Jersey Town’s Vote on Fixing School Deficit Canceled

A New Jersey judge ruled that a vote on whether to increase property taxes in the wealthy commuter town of Montclair after school officials discovered a budget deficit of nearly $20 million can’t go forward as scheduled next week.

Superior Court Judge Robert H. Gardner issued an order on Tuesday declaring two referendum questions that were scheduled to go to a vote on Dec. 9 “invalid and unlawful.” Passing both measures would have put Montclair taxpayers on the hook to close the deficit.

The shortfall was initially announced in July when new Montclair Public Schools administrators found $11 million in ...