Mountainside board advances tentative 2025–26 budget, plans use of reserves for locker-room sewer repairs

The Mountainside Board of Education on Monday advanced a tentative 2025–26 budget that increases the tax levy by 2.43 percent and directs capital reserve funds to an urgent facilities repair.

The board’s business administrator, who presented the budget, said revenues are roughly 95 percent state aid and local taxes and that the district lost about $27,000 in state aid—mostly special-education aid—because fewer students qualified this year. The proposed levy increase, she said, will translate to approximately a $178 increase for an average homeowner based on an assessed value the presentation used ($633,000).

In expenditures, the presentation showed instruction and pupil support account for about 34.3 percent of the general fund; employee benefits have risen—chiefly a projected 10 percent rise in health insurance—and special-education tuition for out-of-district placements represents about 8.5 percent of spending. The administrator said the general fund budget rose roughly $534,000 from the prior year, with most of that increase in salaries and benefits.

The budget document also lists reserves. The unassigned fund balance sits at $471,000 (the maximum allowed under state limits); the capital reserve holds $376,000, and the administration plans to use $201,000 of that to replace sanitary sewer lines in the Deerfield locker rooms, work it described as necessary after repeated problems and likely to occur in June after the baseball/softball seasons conclude.

Board members asked several operational questions about transportation and tuition credits from Governor Livingston. On transportation, the administration said prior savings were achieved through contract changes and parental support but stressed uncertainty remains because vendor renewals and CPI adjustments are still pending.

The board voted to approve the budget package for submission to the county. The tentative budget must be submitted by the county deadline (the administrator said the district will submit next Wednesday, the 19th), and the board set the advertising date for April 24 and the public hearing and final approval for April 29.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the tentative budget package at the meeting’s roll call; several related budget and finance items were approved by roll call during the same agenda segment.

The superintendent and business administrator said they will provide follow-up details on enrollment projections, bus contract negotiations and the sanitary sewer schedule as the district moves toward public advertisement and the final hearing.