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Piscataway board adopts 2025–26 budget after heated public hearing over tax increase
Summary
After extensive public comment urging caution over a proposed tax-levy increase, the Piscataway Township Board of Education unanimously adopted the 2025–26 budget, citing a drop in state aid, rising health-care costs and a structural gap between the state's local-share calculation and the district's tax base.
The Piscataway Township Board of Education on April 17 unanimously adopted its 2025–26 school district budget after a public hearing that drew residents sharply divided over a proposed tax-levy increase.
Supporters and opponents filled the public-comment period. Ed Smith testified he strongly opposed a roughly 5.5% tax increase and urged the board to delay new hires — including bilingual and special-education staff, a full-time nurse, a media center clerk and an IT specialist — or submit the question to voters. Other residents raised concerns about declining enrollment projections, the special-revenue fund and the local impact of municipal reassessments. Several commenters defended the budget as an investment in staff and student services.
Board members and administrators said the increase responds to specific fiscal…
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