Galloway Township board approves submission of $79.95 million FY26 budget; recommends 2% levy plus bank cap

The Galloway Township Public School District on March 17 presented a proposed $79,946,056 general-fund budget for the 2025–26 school year and voted to submit the proposal to the Atlantic County executive superintendent of schools.

District Business Administrator Joy Nixon said the district will receive an increase of about $1,600,000 in categorical state aid this year but that state-imposed caps limited districts to a 6% increase; she said the district was entitled to roughly $3,200,000 under the funding formula but received about half that amount. "We were capped to a 6% maximum of the current year state aid," Nixon said.

Nixon outlined projected expenditure increases of about $3.4 million for FY26 — driven by salaries, benefits, transportation and utilities — producing an estimated $1.7 million gap if the district were to hold prior service levels. To narrow that gap the administration recommended using the 2% tax levy cap (about $743,000 for the district) plus a partial bank-cap withdrawal of about $315,000, producing a net recommended tax impact the presentation described as $28.86 per year for a home assessed at $200,000.

Superintendent (referred to in the transcript as "Mister Santilli") emphasized tight timelines for state and county budget processes and thanked the business office and administrative staff for preparing a balanced submission despite funding shortfalls. Nixon noted some one-time relief from debt-service reductions that effectively returned about $3.86 per taxpayer this year and said the administration tried to limit the burden on taxpayers while preserving class sizes and programs.

After a period of board questions clarifying the levy math and bank-cap carryover, the board moved to approve the submission resolution. The motion was seconded and carried on a roll-call vote. The board read the resolution into the record and recorded the total general-fund figure and the local tax levy amount before voting to submit the budget to the county.

The administration said a public hearing on the budget is scheduled for the board's May meeting, and the county review process will occur between board submission and that hearing. The proposed budget as submitted will now proceed through the county and state procedural review; final adoption typically follows the public hearing and any required revisions.

Vote: the board approved the motion to submit the proposed FY26 school budget to the county (roll call recorded at the meeting).