Belleville School Budget Update: Tax Increase, Public Workshop

BELLEVILLE, NJ — The Belleville Public School District will host a public workshop on Monday, April 22 to discuss its proposed budget, which includes a potential property tax increase for local homeowners.

The special budget work session will take place at 5 p.m. in the Belleville High School auditorium. It will be livestreamed through the district’s social media platforms.

School administrators said the work session seeks to gather public feedback on the proposed 2024-2025 budget. Formal action will not be taken at the meeting.

The Belleville Board of Education unanimously voted to advance the proposed budget in March. At the time, early figures included a $413 tax increase for a homeowner with a property valued at $275,000. See Related: Taxes May Go Up In Belleville Under Proposed School Budget

According to Superintendent Richard Tomko – despite a 22 percent increase in projected state aid for the district – there are several factors that are contributing to the potential tax hike. Some cost drivers include funds for more than 5,200 free student meals, rising health care expenses and increasing student enrollment. Increases in transportation costs, especially for special education students outside the district, are also adding to the financial crunch.

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“I would imagine that pencils are going to be sharpened,” the superintendent told board members at their March 18 meeting. “And I don't think this is the budget that we'll be presenting to you as a community in a few weeks.”

“But again, if you don't put everything in it – you can never put it back,” he added.

Tomko told the board that the writing has been on the wall about an inevitable tax hike:

“I know I sat here last year telling everybody who was here, everybody out there – and it's definitely on record somewhere in the metaverse out there – that we were going to be in this situation. As you keep cutting and cutting and cutting and going under 2%, you just keep drowning and drowning and drowning. So we're definitely past that point. We were at that point last year and we cut one more time. So we are going to have to make up some of that money this year regardless.”

Although the district is getting a bump in state aid, it is still not fully funded according to the state's own calculations, business administrator Matthew Paladino previously said.

Belleville schools were still underfunded by $4.5 million, he reported in March, adding that despite what some commenters are saying, the district doesn't have $10 million in surplus to appropriate into each year's budget.

"The tax impact increase isn't just about 2024-2025," Paladino said. "This is to help future year's budgets as well, so that we can continue all the good we've accomplished for the betterment of the students, parents and staff of the Belleville Board of Education."

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