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North Haledon officials say shifting school resource officer costs limited 2025 tax increase
Summary
Borough leaders said moving school resource officer funding to the school referendum substantially reduced a potential property tax increase; officials identified health insurance and workers' compensation as primary budget drivers and described a one-time $787,000 reconciliation from the school this year.
Mayor Randy George and Chief Financial Officer Chris Battaglia presented the borough's 2025 budget and said shifting the cost of school resource officers (SROs) from the municipal budget to the school district's referendum held down what otherwise could have been a large tax increase.
According to Mayor Randy George, the move prevented a potential tax increase that “could have been well over $400” (as discussed at the meeting). Battaglia and the mayor identified nonnegotiable cost drivers including rising health insurance and workers' compensation premiums. Officials said the borough was able to waive a capital improvement down payment and return that amount to reserves.
The presenters described a one-time reconciliation for this year: the council said the school district is returning an extra six months of SRO funding—$787,000 for this year—which will be returned to residents; thereafter, the SRO allocation to the school would revert to $525,000. Council Member Donna Puglisi raised a related capital-item question about alternatives to a planned street sweeper purchase after seeing a lower-cost option at a convention; she asked staff to investigate alternatives.
The agenda also listed resolutions for the reading and introduction of the 2025 budget. Council moved earlier in the meeting to deviate from the regular order of business to permit the budget presentation; that procedural motion passed on a unanimous roll call.
