Montgomery board adopts smaller bank-cap budget option after contentious public hearing

The Montgomery Township Board of Education on April 29 adopted a modified 2025–26 budget that adds $779,863 from previously earned bank-cap credits to the district’s base budget, the administration said after a public hearing that ran for several hours.

The hearing presented four options the administration calculated in response to a tentative budget adopted in March. Business Administrator Andrew Italiano and Superintendent Mary McLaughlin outlined the choices for the board and the public: (1) use $2,600,000 from bank-cap/waiver funds (net tax effect ~4.98% for homeowners in samples provided by administration); (2) use $1,600,000 (net ≈3.79%); (3) use $779,863 (net ≈2.87%); or (4) adopt only the previously advertised 2% levy increase (no bank-cap use). After public Q&A and board discussion the board voted to adopt option 3, the administration said.

Why it mattered: Board members and district officials said salary and benefits account for about 85% of the district’s budget, and rising benefit costs and transportation and special-education outlays are driving deficits. The administration framed the bank-cap options as a way to…