Hillsborough School Board Debates 2% Tax Hike
- Board members debated a proposed school budget that would raise local property taxes. - The proposal would increase taxes by about 2 percent as the board weighs pressures on taxpayers. - Final vote remains pending after ongoing talks; trustees cite balancing student needs and taxpayer burdens (patch.com).
Hillsborough’s school board is still weighing a 2% tax-levy increase for 2026-27, with a final budget vote scheduled for April 30. (patch.com) The Board of Education introduced the budget on March 23 by a 5-4 vote after a debate over whether to hold the levy flat after last year’s larger increase. Superintendent Michael Volpe said he could make either option work for 2026-27, but he recommended the 2% increase for “long-term financial stability.” (patch.com) The proposed 2026-27 budget totals $182,748,175, up a little more than $5.8 million from 2025-26. The general-fund tax levy would rise by $2,891,204 to $147,451,418 under the current plan. (patch.com) Board President Joel Davis said on April 13 that the March vote approved only an introduced budget, not a final one. He said members were still discussing whether to keep the 2% levy, cut it to 1%, or go to 0%. (patch.com) The district is trying to budget after a $519,761 reduction in state aid and the loss of $1 million in one-time tax-levy incentive aid that helped last year’s plan. Volpe said a zero increase would leave schools looking “exactly the same” next year, but he raised concerns about what that would mean for 2027-28. (patch.com) Cost pressures inside the budget are rising faster than the levy cap. District officials said health-insurance costs are projected to jump 19%, or about $5.3 million, other insurance costs about 20%, or just over $2 million, and utilities about $200,000. (patch.com) The spending plan also adds staff and security equipment tied to full-day kindergarten and special education. Davis said the proposal includes kindergarten teachers, lunch aides, a K-6 literacy supervisor, a K-6 math supervisor, an autism teacher and aides at Auten Road Intermediate School, building monitors, cameras, weapon-detection technology and license-plate readers. (patch.com) For homeowners, the numbers are large even before the final vote. Patch reported that the introduced budget would bring the school-tax bill on an average Hillsborough home assessed at $628,012 to $9,638.10, an annual increase of $993.51. (patch.com) That tax debate follows a bruising budget cycle in 2024, when Hillsborough approved cuts that included middle school sports before New Jersey later offered some districts temporary relief. The district’s current argument is less about whether costs are rising than about how much of that increase should land on taxpayers this year. (mycentraljersey.com, mycentraljersey.com) The next step is April 30, when trustees are expected to decide whether Hillsborough keeps the 2% increase, trims it, or sends taxpayers a lower bill and the district a tighter future budget. (patch.com)
