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Board previews 2025-26 budget: 2% tax levy increase, $2.44M budgeted surplus and priorities
Summary
Business administrator presented a preliminary 2025-26 budget that holds the tax levy to the 2% cap (example: $57/year on a $300,000 home), uses a budgeted fund balance of about $2.44 million, and highlights cost pressures for benefits, insurance and utilities.
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J.
At its March 18 meeting the Berkeley Heights Board of Education received a preliminary presentation of the 2025-26 budget that keeps the local tax levy at the allowable 2 percent cap and relies on a budgeted fund balance to keep the district fiscally balanced.
Business Administrator (presentation) said state aid increased roughly $181,100 for 2025-26 and the tax levy is presented at a 2% increase; using an example, a home assessed at $300,000 would see an annual school-tax increase of about $57 under the proposed levy. The administration identified rising costs that drive the proposed budget: employer contributions to the Public Employees' Retirement System, projected property and casualty insurance increases (12.6%), health and prescription benefits (11%), and utilities.
The presentation included a $2,443,000 budgeted fund balance (surplus) carried into the plan to stabilize the tax rate. Trustees discussed trade-offs: whether to spend capital reserves on parking-lot work now or wait for a possible referendum that could yield state reimbursement of roughly 34% for certain projects, and how staff vacancies and enrollment shifts affect class size and staffing lines.
Board members asked for additional detail on items including subscription busing revenues, the methodology for budgeting lines that remain flat or decreased, and whether projected professional development and audit costs match procurement plans. Trustees also noted a roughly 43-student drop districtwide since the prior year and questioned the budget assumptions tied to that decline.
What happens next: The presentation is preliminary. Trustees approved budget-related resolutions that permit the administration to assemble the final spending plan for public review; the board will revisit line-item details and capital priorities before adopting a final budget.
