Secaucus Board adopts $51.5 million 2025–26 budget; tax levy rises 4.6%

The Secaucus Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt the district’s 2025–26 budget and approve Resolution R 1.01, approving a $51,500,000 general fund operating budget and a proposed tax levy of $41,640,000, a 4.6% increase from the previous year.

Board members and district finance staff said the plan preserves all current programs and positions while adding four new staff positions and using reserves and one-time balances to close remaining gaps. Business Administrator Grace Shiho and Assistant Business Administrator Pascual Kikuchi presented the budget; Acting Superintendent Charles Voorhees spoke to the board before the vote.

The budget matters because it funds classroom instruction, student supports and facility needs for the coming school year. That allocation includes $19.3 million (about 37% of the operating budget) for classroom instruction and programs and uses a mix of local tax revenue, state aid, federal grants and fund balance to reach a projected total revenue figure of about $54.1 million when special revenues and debt service are included.

During the presentation, Assistant Business Administrator Pascual Kikuchi said the district’s planning principle is to be “thorough and efficient,” and he reviewed revenue and spending priorities, including a local tax levy that remains the largest single revenue source. Kikuchi told the board the district expects state aid of just over $4.3 million, miscellaneous revenue and interest of roughly $525,000, a federal Medicaid reimbursement of $9,457, and a fund-balance surplus of over $1,000,000; capital and emergency reserves were listed at nearly $3.9 million.

Kikuchi described budget allocations this way: 37% to classroom instruction and programs, 17% to employee benefits, 12% combined for student support services and transportation, 9% for operations and maintenance, and 7% for capital improvements. He also said special revenue and debt-service funds were projected at $2.6 million and described a health-care cost adjustment of $677,000 that allowed the district to exceed the usual limit because insurance costs rose above the state’s base percentage cap.

Acting Superintendent Charles Voorhees described the budget process as collaborative and credited staff for saving jobs and programs while balancing the budget. “We were able to save every single situation, every job, every program,” Voorhees said, describing the multi-day process to balance revenues and expenditures.

Board discussion before the vote emphasized that trustees had prior opportunities to review the budget in detail and to ask questions; no board member recorded a dissenting vote. The board’s roll-call vote recorded eight affirmative votes and no negatives or abstentions: Bartletta, Bologanno, Diodetta, Barry, Giambre, Geller, Lewis and Lyons.

The board and presenters noted several one-time and restricted funding sources used to balance the plan: an unspent fund surplus of about $1,000,000 from prior years, capital-reserve funds, and an amount described in the presentation as a bank-cap carryover that must be used within three years. The administration also listed continuing funding sources including Title I–IV and IDEA grants that support interventions and special education services.

The resolution’s adoption authorizes the budget as presented and sends the district forward to implement the 2025–26 spending plan. The board did not direct additional follow-up actions at the meeting beyond standard implementation steps discussed by staff. The district thanked the mayor, town council and community for supporting the schools and closed the agenda item following the unanimous vote.