Ridgefield Park superintendent outlines $64.12 million preliminary budget, recommends 4.74% tax levy increase

Ridgefield Park Board of Education Superintendent Dr. Vespignani presented a $64,123,499 preliminary budget for the 2025–26 school year at the board’s March 19, 2025 meeting, and recommended a 4.74% increase in the local tax levy that uses part of the district’s banked levy capacity and an allowable health-care waiver.

The proposal, Dr. Vespignani said, balances revenue and fixed costs while avoiding cuts to staff or core programs. “We are being told to budget approximately a 22% increase, from the previous year. That 22% increase represents an approximate $1,600,000 increase,” Dr. Vespignani said, referring to projected school-employee health-benefit costs.

The nut of the proposal is the projected jump in employee benefits: the administration estimates roughly $1.6 million in additional health-benefit expense for 2025–26. The administration reported a modest increase in state aid (about $700,000) and a 2% statutory tax-levy baseline; those revenue items do not fully cover the benefit increase, the presentation said.

Why it matters: the district may use state-approved “allowable adjustments” — banked levy capacity and a health-care waiver approved by the New Jersey Department of Education — to raise local revenue beyond the 2% cap in order to preserve staffing and programs. Dr. Vespignani said the district is permitted to raise the levy up to 6.25% this year because it carried unused levy capacity from prior years; the administration’s recommendation reduces that maximum to 4.74% to address immediate needs while preserving some banked capacity for future years.

Key program and capital items included in the preliminary budget are: - Maintenance of instructional programs, extracurriculars and professional development. - Prekindergarten expansion: the district plans to add a preschool classroom at Roosevelt Elementary, taking pre-K from 10 to 11 classrooms; state preschool aid will fund the additional staff required (teacher, assistant, and a second combined preschool instructional coach/intervention specialist because state rules require two when classrooms exceed 10). - Capital projects funded from capital reserve: replacement of the junior–senior high academic wing roof (estimated; subject to change), replacement of an aging clocks/bell/security display system (EverAlert) and continued multi‑year technology infrastructure leasing for switches and servers. - ROD (Regular Operating District) grant projects: the district will pursue bids for high-school HVAC and subsequent elementary HVAC work; administrators cautioned bids may exceed earlier cost estimates because of inflation.

Dr. Vespignani told the board the preliminary budget is contingent on the allowable adjustments and internal balancing steps: “The only path to have that budget ultimately balanced is through that second line item, the allowable adjustments.” He later explained the recommended 4.74% levy would translate to an estimated average homeowner increase of $328.59 annually ($27.38 monthly), stressing those are estimates and subject to change.

Board members spent an extended period of questions and comment after the presentation. Trustee Cooney said he supported the preliminary plan and told the board, “I will be voting yes for it.” Several other trustees voiced conditional support while stressing that the number is preliminary and subject to further refinement before final adoption at the April 30 public hearing.

Next steps: the administration must submit the preliminary budget to the Bergen County office as required; the board will hold a public hearing and vote on the final budget at its April 30 meeting. The superintendent and business administrator said they will continue to review line items and return detailed, user-friendly budget documents to the board and public.

Context: Dr. Vespignani said the district negotiated a 3.5% salary increase for each of the three collective-bargaining units for 2025–26. He also emphasized that much of the budget is nondiscretionary — salaries, benefits and special education costs represent the majority of spending — and said the district will not propose adding full-time equivalent positions for 2025–26 beyond currently funded staffing.

Board members repeatedly thanked the student representatives who had addressed the board earlier in the meeting and pointed to student testimony about programs and facilities as context for preserving current programs in the budget. The administration reiterated that all numbers are preliminary and subject to county review and public comment.