Hunterdon Central board adopts 2026–27 budget after debate over reserves, insurance savings

The Hunterdon Central Regional High School Board of Education approved its final 2026–27 budget on April 28, adopting a 2.27% tax-levy increase after public comment and extended board debate.

Superintendent Candelosi Hade presented the final budget, saying two adjustments — a change in the prescription-plan provider and use of emergency reserve funds — reduced the recommended levy from 3% to 2.27% while preserving academic and cocurricular programs. “With these two changes we are recommending a lower tax levy going from 3% to 2.27%,” the superintendent said during the presentation.

Board members criticized and questioned portions of the administration’s analysis, particularly long-term health-care projections the presentation described as a possible five-year “fiscal cliff.” Board member (Miss) Santangelo pressed for the underlying data and proposed an amendment to lower the levy to 1.5% and direct any June capital-reserve deposits to offset taxpayers’ bills. Santangelo cited a need for greater transparency and flagged a 2024 state comptroller performance audit that identified weaknesses in procurement and the district’s reliance on its insurance broker.

The board voted first on Santangelo’s amendment; it failed. The board then voted to approve the superintendent’s revised budget. Roll-call votes recorded during the meeting show the amendment failed 6–2 and the final budget motion carried by a majority vote.

Several members of the public urged caution and fiscal discipline during two public-comment periods. Speakers asked why the district’s capital reserves had grown to roughly $29 million while enrollment has declined, and whether surplus and reserve growth meant the district could reduce the levy. One resident urged an independent audit; another urged keeping reserves to preserve future capital work and avoid a referendum.

Board discussion explained the district’s capital-reserve strategy: the district uses a capital-reserve account to fund large facility projects and to qualify for state ROD grants that require the district to demonstrate its local share. The superintendent and finance staff said the final determination about any deposits into capital reserve is made after the annual audit and a board vote at the end of the fiscal year.

The budget includes reduced staffing through attrition (20 positions eliminated), continued funding for curricular and cocurricular programs, and an emphasis on using the capital reserve to avoid borrowing. The administration reported recent factors that drove recommended adjustments: an estimated $250,000 savings from a prescription plan change and approximately $191,000 from emergency-reserve usage to offset health-benefit costs.

The board also debated an ONT package that proposed switching the group prescription plan to a new carrier via a public-employer trust and designating Brown & Brown as broker of record. Board members questioned the resolution language that earlier versions had used to say the broker was “authorized to act on behalf of the board in all matters”; the board removed that sentence and asked for legal review of the final resolution language before carrying the rest of the ONT package.

The meeting ended with the board approving the budget and routine personnel and policy items; one invoice tied to an ethics-related legal matter was postponed for additional review.

The board will proceed with required county and public notifications for the adopted budget and will vote in June on any year-end decisions about transfers into capital reserve after completion of the audit.