Little Egg Harbor board approves 2025–26 budget, citing state-aid cuts and staff-safety concerns

The Little Egg Harbor Township Board of Education voted to adopt the 2025–26 budget after a heated public hearing in which board members said a tax-levy adjustment authorized by the New Jersey Department of Education was necessary to close an estimated $10 million shortfall caused by declining state aid.

The board’s finance presentation said the state-calculated adequacy budget for the district is roughly $30 million while the state’s local fair-share calculation is about $24 million; the district currently raises about $14.6 million in local property taxes, leaving a gap the board said must be addressed. To close part of that gap the district applied for and received NJDOE approval of a tax-levy incentive, which presenters said allowed the district to request a 32.6% levy adjustment. Officials listed adjustments that qualify the district for the incentive: an enrollment adjustment (~$557,000), a tax-levy incentive just over $3 million, a health-care adjustment (~$507,000) and a bank cap adjustment (~$670,000), which presenters said would raise the total tax levy to about $19.3 million.

Why it matters: board members framed the vote as a choice between a one‑year, large tax increase and significant staff reductions that would raise class sizes and cut services. “Choosing to raise taxes tonight is not something that I or any of us celebrate,” a board member said, adding that the increase was intended to “protect critical programs like art, STEAM and music” and to avoid draconian layoffs. Presenters repeatedly described salaries (about 56% of appropriations) and rapidly rising health-benefit costs (an 18% rate increase was cited) as primary cost pressures.

Residents split along predictable lines. Longtime resident and taxpayer Kevin Vertov said many local homeowners pay taxes but do not send children to district schools, arguing that “over 50% of your taxes used by the school system are paid by people that have no impact on it.” Conversely, PTO leader Crystal Guyversley described surviving last year’s cuts and urged the board not to reduce paraprofessionals or increase class sizes, saying she was “willing to give up a few extra coffee runs a month to cover that $35” a month in extra taxes rather than lose staff.

Officials defended numbers and transparency during an extended Q&A. Presenters explained that last year the district used reserves to soften the effect of cuts, that certain reserves (unemployment reserve) can be used only for specified claims, and that some costs — energy and transportation — have risen sharply and are largely outside district control. Board members pressed officials for line-item detail, compared this district’s options with neighboring districts, and discussed the limits of local authority to change state funding formulas.

Action taken: the board moved to adopt the budget and carried the motion; the transcript records members voting in favor and the chair announcing the motion carried. Specific roll-call tallies for the budget motion are not fully specified in the transcript provided.

What’s next: presenters said administrators will fine-tune section assignments and placement once enrollment numbers are finalized. The district also plans to post senior tax-freeze application information and additional budget detail on its website; attendees were urged to contact state legislators about school funding. The board then moved to adjourn.