Hillsborough board approves $21.9 million tax-levy increase after 5–4 vote

HILLSBOROUGH, N.J. — The Hillsborough Township Board of Education voted 5–4 on April 28 to adopt a revised 2025–26 budget that uses a state tax-levy incentive to add roughly $21,931,626 in local levy capacity plus a $1,000,000 state match, a package administration said would restore about 24 positions and fund one-time capital projects.

The motion to approve Option 1 passed after an amendment to scale back the levy to $8,750,000 failed earlier in the meeting. Board members who voted in favor said the larger package was necessary to avoid staff reductions, preserve student services and stabilize the district; opponents cited fiscal responsibility and concerns about imposing a major tax increase on residents without a referendum.

Superintendent Mike Volpe told the board the district faces a structural deficit driven mainly by state-aid cuts, estimating a baseline decline of roughly $7.5 million since 2019 and cumulative losses exceeding $26 million. Volpe said Option 1 would restore services cut under the tentative budget — including reinstating courtesy busing, middle school sports and pay-to-play suspensions — and return about 24 positions to the payroll. He also said administration planned about $15 million in nonrecurring capital and facility projects in the first year, from replacing trailers at Triangle School to bus-garage work and building repairs.

"This is just math," Volpe said in his presentation, explaining that state aid reductions, rising health-benefit costs and fixed contractual…