Board Debates 2% School Tax Hike

Hillsborough’s school board is still weighing a 2% tax-levy increase for the 2026-27 budget, with a final vote scheduled for April 30. (patch.com) The board first introduced the budget on March 23 in a 5-4 vote. The proposal totals $182,748,175, up a little more than $5.8 million from the 2025-26 budget. (patch.com) Under that proposal, the general-fund tax levy would rise by $2,891,204 to $147,451,418. Superintendent Michael Volpe said he recommended taking the full 2% increase to protect the district’s finances beyond next year. (patch.com) The debate turned after last year’s much larger local tax jump. In April 2025, Hillsborough used New Jersey’s Tax Levy Incentive Aid option to raise the general-fund levy by about $20 million and receive an extra $1 million in one-time state aid. (patch.com) That history is shaping this spring’s fight over whether another increase should be 2%, 1%, or 0%. Board President Joel Davis said on April 13 that the budget approved in March was still only a proposal and that the board was reconsidering its options before the public hearing. (patch.com) Davis said he regretted voting for the introduced budget and said a no vote in March might have opened a fuller discussion of a 0% or 1% alternative. He also said the district had been cut another $500,000 in state funding. (patch.com) District officials have tied the added revenue to staffing and security. Items discussed in the budget include elementary literacy and math supervisors, kindergarten teachers, lunch aides, building monitors, an autism classroom teacher with two aides, cameras, weapons-detection systems, license-plate readers, and a transportation and maintenance facility estimated at $7 million. (patch.com) Volpe told the board the district could make a 0% increase work for 2026-27 without changing what families see in schools next year. He said his concern was 2027-28, after the district loses both $519,761 in state aid and last year’s $1 million one-time incentive aid. (patch.com; patch.com) For homeowners, the numbers are concrete. Patch reported the introduced plan would put the school-tax bill for an average Hillsborough home valued at $628,012 at $9,638.10 in 2026, an annual increase of $993.51. (patch.com) The board’s public calendar lists meetings on April 13 and April 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Auten Road Intermediate School, with the April 30 session marked as the budget hearing and final decision point. (htps.us; htps.us)