New Jersey boasts one of America’s top-rated public school systems. But if you’ve seen your tax bill, you know it doesn’t come cheap. Garden State property owners were billed a collective $17.5 billion last year in school taxes, a 2.8% increase over 2022, according to an NJ Advance Media analysis of state data. The average school tax bill for a homeowner was $5,139 — up $135 from 2022 — accounting for more than half the average property tax bill of $9,803. Mountain Lakes led all towns with an average school tax bill of $15,750, followed by several other wealthy communities with relatively smal…