Middlesex board sends tentative $46.8 million budget to county, proposes 2% tax levy increase

The Middlesex Borough School District Board of Education voted Wednesday to submit its tentative 2025–26 general fund budget to the county, seeking approval to move the plan to the county review stage ahead of a public hearing and final vote in April.

Superintendent Dr. Roberta Freeman presented the budget and initiatives, and board members approved the finance and facilities items that authorize submission to the county. "Take a minute, and I need you to think about your why," Freeman told the board during the presentation, framing planned expenditures around student outcomes.

The budget presentation said the district's calculated budget target is roughly $46.8 million, with the proposed local tax levy up 2% and state aid increasing about 4.62 percent compared with the prior year. The presentation reported employee benefits rising about 11 percent in the proposed figures and noted that participation in the state health benefits program would have driven a higher increase (roughly 25 percent) but that the district had avoided…