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Highland Park council introduces 2025 municipal budget; public hearing set for May 6
Summary
The Highland Park Borough Council introduced its 2025 municipal budget and related utility and Main Street budgets, presenting a tax snapshot that shows a roughly $2.2 million increase in the amount to be raised across municipal, school, county and library levies and setting a May 6 public hearing.
The Highland Park Borough Council on April 1 introduced the borough’s 2025 municipal budget, scheduling a public hearing on the budget and tax resolution for May 6, 2025.
The finance presentation shown to council members and the public laid out a municipal tax picture in which the total amount to be raised by property taxes across all uses — municipal, schools, county and library — rises by about $2,200,000 compared with 2024. Using the administration’s estimate of average assessed value in Highland Park, the presentation showed an average total property tax bill of $12,882.64 for 2025, about $542 more than last year (a 4.4% increase). The municipal share of that bill was presented as $3,330.94 — about $105 higher than 2024 (roughly a 3% increase for the municipal portion).
Council members were shown a department-level breakdown the administrator said supports the proposed appropriations: roughly 25% for public safety (police, fire, dispatch and municipal court), 16% for public works (collection, facilities and maintenance), 21% for statutory retirement and social insurance costs, and smaller shares for capital, grants and the library. The presentation noted a legislative aid grant of approximately $1,000,000 for South Third Avenue and Hubbard Plaza that materially increased total appropriations but was shown separately because grant-funded appropriations are offset by grant revenue and not directly raised by taxes.
The council also heard a summary of the borough utility budget, which the presenter said decreased modestly year over year. The utility budget description noted that about 40% of utility expenses reflect the purchase of water from Middlesex Water Company, about 29% covers operations and maintenance (including the borough’s contract with an operator), and about 24% covers sewer processing fees charged by the regional authority. The presenter said the utility budget is stable enough that no additional rate increase is anticipated for 2025.
On capital planning, the administration outlined potential projects for later authorization, including repairs at the environmental center, fire alarm upgrades at borough buildings, sidewalk and parking-lot repairs, motor-pool and public-works vehicle replacements, water and sewer main upgrades related to a proposed South Third Avenue plaza, and several roadway projects that would rely on New Jersey Department of Transportation or county grant funding. The presenter said some items will require future council authorization and matching funds where grants are awarded.
A motion was made and seconded to introduce the 2025 municipal budget for first reading and to schedule the May 6, 2025 public hearing. The governing body approved the introduction on a roll call vote.
