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Hackettstown Board adopts $53.27 million budget for 2026-27 school year
Summary
The Hackettstown Board of Education approved a $53,270,547 budget for 2026-27 with a local tax levy of $22,580,592, noting a $734,200 health-care cost adjustment and that the district has exhausted eligible statutory spending authority. The budget will be submitted to the Executive County Superintendent for approval.
The Hackettstown Board of Education voted on May 6 to adopt the district’s 2026-2027 tentative budget, a $53,270,547 total base budget that carries a local tax levy of $22,580,592.
Business Administrator and Board Secretary James Schlessinger presented the budget and the board approved it for submission to the Executive County Superintendent under N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-5 and 18A:7F-6. The adopted budget includes a General Fund of $52,218,447 (local tax levy $22,369,184), a Special Revenue Fund of $712,700, and a Debt Service Fund of $325,400 (local tax levy $211,408).
The board noted a health-care cost adjustment of $734,200; $634,980 of that figure is included in the 2026-27 spending plan and the remaining $99,220 will be placed into banked cap. The district also reported no adjustment for deferred PERS pension contributions and stated it has fully exhausted all eligible statutory spending authority under N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-10.1(b).
Board members adopted the budget by roll call. The meeting minutes report that the board carried the motion for the action-item slate by roll call; the transcript does not supply a full roll-call tally for the budget line beyond noting that abstentions were recorded on some agenda items (see related personnel/finance motions). The adopted budget will be forwarded to the Executive County Superintendent for review and approval, the next required procedural step.
The board did not provide the supporting budget attachments in the published minutes; staff indicated those materials were attached by reference to the meeting record. Questions about line-item changes, program expansions, or projected tax-rate effects were not recorded in the public minutes. The board’s formal adoption completes the local step of the statutory process; district officials said no additional local vote is required before county review.
