Pinelands board hears proposal that would raise local tax levy about 7.8% as transportation and health costs climb

Amanda Miller, the district’s business administrator, presented the Pinelands Regional School District’s proposed 2025–26 budget, saying the plan relies on a full 6% State Aid increase and would produce a total budget of about $44.0 million with a general fund near $39.6 million.

Miller told the board that primary cost drivers this year are transportation and employee health care. She said a change in contracting and tiering arrangements will push transportation costs higher — “our increase in transportation costs are going to be about 300,000” — and that health‑care premiums for the district are up roughly 16% from the prior year. Miller also described plans to employ an equipment lease to preserve technology and facilities purchases while reducing immediate budgetary strain.

Board members pressed for more detail. Several trustees asked for the budget committee’s worksheets and scenarios — the board had run options at 2%, 6% and higher levy levels — and requested clearer documentation of what would be cut under each scenario. One member said the committee met repeatedly but that the full board should review line‑by‑line proposals in a summer work session rather than decide under a tight county deadline.

Trustees and administrators debated possible savings in noninstructional areas. Questions included whether administration staffing could be reduced, whether programs could be shifted to lease agreements, and whether specific instructional positions would be impacted under a lower levy increase. Miller said departmental budgets were trimmed and that some reductions were made that would not affect students or core programs.

Context and next steps: the administration said the tax‑levy figure presented would need county office review and that the public hearing is scheduled for the April board meeting. No final vote on the overall budget was recorded in the public session; several routine agenda items and personnel matters were voted on separately later in the meeting.

Why it matters: the proposed levy increase would affect taxpayers in Bass River Township, Eagleswood Township, Little Egg Harbor Township and the Borough of Tuckerton and will shape program and personnel decisions for the coming school year.

Attribution and sourcing: numbers and direct quotations are drawn from Amanda Miller’s budget presentation and the public board discussion on the proposed budget. Where segment text used approximate phrasing (for example, general‑fund totals presented orally), amounts are reported as stated by presenters and clarified where the board later provided formal documents.

The board plans a public hearing on the budget at its April meeting; administrators said revised materials would be made available on the district website and distributed to board members in advance of that hearing.