Evesham board approves $100.19 million budget, $88.9 million tax levy increase

The Evesham Township Board of Education approved a $100,186,119 general fund budget and a $88,905,012 tax levy at its meeting, adopting the district’s final 2025–26 spending plan after public comment and debate.

The budget approval follows the district’s application to the New Jersey Department of Education for additional local tax levy authority to close a funding shortfall the administration described as being roughly $15 million below the state’s adequacy target. The application requests $14,212,041 in additional local levy authority and $710,602 in state tax-levy incentive aid; the district said the NJDOE is still reviewing the submission.

The district attributed the need for added local revenue to long-running declines in state aid associated with the state’s S2-era adjustments. “We are nearly $15,000,000 under adequacy, which is an absolutely astronomical and outrageous amount,” Doctor Smith said during the final budget presentation. Superintendent Smith and other administrators detailed spending priorities tied to the extra levy: restoring the district’s 2% fund…