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Readington officials lay out budget timeline as health‑insurance costs spike
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Hart and Business Administrator Mr. Bowman told the board the district must delay tentative budget submission until state aid numbers arrive; they warned of unprecedented health‑insurance increases (roughly 20–21% locally) that, along with rising utilities and pension costs, will constrain next year’s budget.
Dr. Hart, Readington Township superintendent, told the board the district will receive its state aid notification on March 12 and cannot file a tentative budget until those numbers arrive, postponing the public tentative‑budget presentation to a March 23 meeting and the final adoption to April 28.
The delay follows the governor’s March 10 budget address; Dr. Hart said state law requires districts to wait for that release. The timeline the administration outlined runs from department budget development (October–December) through finance‑committee review in January and public presentation steps in March and April.
Why it matters: the district faces unusually large operating pressures as it builds the 2026–27 budget. Mr. Bowman, the business administrator, said health insurance — the district’s second‑largest cost after salaries — will likely rise “approximately 20 to 21%” for the district’s Schools Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) plan, with statewide increases reported as conservatively 16–18% and, in some cases, above 30%.
The administration described limits on plan design: because the district participates in the state SHIF, it cannot unilaterally redesign benefits (for example, offering high‑deductible variants) and must competitively quote carriers against the same state‑mandated plan structure. That constraint reduces local flexibility to mitigate premium growth.
Dr. Hart and Mr. Bowman also flagged other rising budget lines: salary increases projected at roughly 3.2–3.5%, utilities up about 13%, general liability insurance rising near 10%, and continuing local obligations for pension contributions and out‑of‑district special‑education placements and transportation.
The administration said the delayed governor’s address gave the district more time to assemble numbers and that the tentative budget will be presented to the board and public on March 23, with any county review feedback addressed at the April 14 meeting before final adoption on April 28.
What happens next: state aid numbers on March 12 will determine how much the district can finalize for the tentative budget; the board has scheduled special meetings to accommodate the timeline.
At the meeting Dr. Hart also noted enrollment monitoring and housing developments factor into multi‑year budget forecasts, and asked residents with questions to follow up by email for detailed enrollment reports.
