Parsippany-Troy Hills presents $198.5 million tentative budget; health-care spike leaves $749,000 gap

Superintendent Dr. Chase presented the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township School District’s tentative $198.5 million budget for 2026–27 and warned the board that a sharp rise in health-care costs is the primary pressure point.

“This year, it increased by $8,100,000 or approximately 31%,” Dr. Chase said, referring to the district’s employee health-care costs, and added that the increase is largely fixed and difficult to scale back. He said the district applied a state-permitted health-care adjustment but still faces about $749,000 in uncovered costs after that adjustment.

The superintendent said 86% of the tentative budget is funded by the local tax levy and about 8% by state aid, leaving limited revenue flexibility. Dr. Chase said the budget maintains core instructional programs and preserves extracurricular clubs and intervention services. “All core instructional programs have been maintained in this budget,” he said, adding that principals and the finance committee worked to add five elementary teaching sections to reduce the largest elementary class sizes by reallocating positions freed by changes to the middle-school team-teaching model.

Board members pressed for clarity on per-pupil calculations and taxpayer impact. Using an example home assessed at $315,000, the superintendent said the proposed budget would raise local taxes by about $455 annually, roughly $38 a month. Board members and staff explained the difference between fully loaded per-pupil costs (which include transportation, food service and debt service) and the budgetary per-pupil figure used for instructional comparisons.

Board members also questioned the district’s approach to rising insurance costs. Dr. Chase said the district’s brokers had shopped the market and examined options including self‑insurance, and that collective bargaining agreements limit short-term flexibility on coverage design. He also noted the need to continue negotiating with five labor unions next year and that contractual settlements above 2% would create future budgetary pressure.

The budget presentation included details on special-education costs, which officials described as volatile because of out-of-district placements and transportation, and on capital items including the Littleton Phase 2 project. District staff told the board Littleton Phase 2 returned lower bids than estimated and that a capital-reserve transfer to fully fund Phase 2 prior to next year is on the agenda.

The district will present the tentative budget to the county for compliance review and hold a community budget forum on April 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the district building. The board is scheduled to vote on final adoption at the April 28 meeting.

What’s next: a public forum April 16 and final budget adoption vote April 28; the tentative budget will also be posted on the district website with FAQ responses from the superintendent.