Plan To Hike Taxes, Make Cuts In Nutley Schools Sees Criticism

NUTLEY, NJ — A plan to raise school taxes in Nutley – while also cutting programs – is sparking an outcry from some local residents.

The Nutley Board of Education held a budget hearing this week that tackled a hot-button issue in the township: school finances.

The board approved its tentative 2025-2026 budget in March, paving the way for administrators to start hammering out a final version – which became clearer after Monday’s meeting.

A Nutley home assessed at $493,362 will see a tax increase of $228 to the school portion of their bill under the current blueprint, according to figures presented to the board.

Meanwhile, more than $5 million in reductions are being floated, including cuts to athletics, extra-curricular activities and special education resources. Administrators also plan to not replace the positions of staff members who resign or retire, restructure mental health services, reduce maintenance and custodial services, and cut back on summer hours. Changes to paraprofessional jobs are also on the table, including shifting some to a part-time basis.

The cuts are expected to particularly impact programming at the high school, administrators said.

View the user-friendly budget here, and see the budget presentation from April 28 here.

Michael DeVita, the district’s business administrator, gave a presentation at the meeting that broke down some of the numbers. Watch footage below (video is cued to the presentation).

Board president Salvatore Ferraro read a statement on behalf of his peers, acknowledging that the district was in a tricky financial situation and would need to make some tough choices.

He said:

“The board of education would like to briefly address the district's financial situation and difficult decisions ahead. To begin, we as a board do not support cuts to student programs including sports and extracurricular activities, and we strongly urge our superintendent – our administration – to find alternative solutions to protect opportunities for our students.

“Despite having taken the maximum allowable tax increase last year – which was just under 6 percent – to address a significant budgetary shortfall, Nutley faced a 3 percent reduction in state aid this year, the maximum cut permitted, while nearby districts like Belleville, East Orange, Newark and Irvington received millions more. Of the 22 municipalities in Essex County, only seven saw aid reductions, which totaled $3.5 million, while 15 districts received increases in addition to what they received last year, totaling more than $100 million.

“In response to growing concern, the state, in early April, offered a one-time waiver, allowing districts to raise taxes beyond the allowable cap without a public vote. It's important to understand that our preliminary budget, which we just introduced a month ago, reflected a 2.73 percent increase, which already accounted for the available state-approved waivers for health care costs and enrollment growth. This 2.73 percent increase represents the maximum the board could responsibly approve without removing voter oversight. While some saw the state's new one-time waiver as a solution, we believe it would undermine transparency and taxpayers rights. If a tax increase above the cap is necessary, the people of Nutley deserve the right to vote on it.

“Later this evening, I will move to create an exploratory committee to investigate how we can formally return school budget approvals to the voters exceeding the 2 percent cap, because that should not rest with the individual board members: it should rest with the people of Nutley. After careful consideration and discussion, a majority of the board decided not to pursue the one-time waiver, and that decision was based on several key reasons. One, it would remove voter input. It would unfairly shift the burden for the state's cuts onto Nutley taxpayers. It would be unfair, given previously identified areas where efficiency and cost savings must be addressed, and it would allow the state to avoid responsibility for its funding decisions.

“We also recognize that addressing these financial challenges requires real, lasting change – not just temporary fixes that postpone the problem to another year.

“Last spring, the district submitted a corrective action plan to the state, identifying key areas that must be addressed to stabilize Nutley’s finances, including operational inefficiencies such as scheduling modifications, to reduce strain on faculties and staff – while creating cost savings and benefiting students. Staffing adjustments to better align with our district needs and resources, as current staffing levels exceed those typically found in districts of our size, and aligning special services to ensure they are effectively meeting the needs of students while managing costs efficiently. While the reforms were identified in the corrective action plan, they still need to be fully implemented, and additional efficiencies must continue to be explored.

“This work is ongoing and necessary to achieve long-term financial sustainability. Failure to address these challenges will continue to place unnecessary pressure on programs and most importantly, our students. In the wake of last year's budget challenges, this board administration must continue to find efficiencies and cost savings within the budget.

“We understand that some of the decisions that need to be made may not be popular, and we acknowledge that they will cause concern and anxiety among some members of our community. However, these are necessary steps to ensure long-term stability and success of our school district. These are difficult decisions, and we collectively lose sleep over them, but we need to make them in order to balance core education needs with much-needed cost efficiencies, and in order to avoid huge tax increases.”

PUBLIC COMMENT

Several people criticized the proposed cuts during the public comment portion of the meeting. Speakers included the high school’s athletic director and a former student-athlete-turned-teacher, who each urged the board to preserve its sports programs.

One speaker said she was worried that having less teachers will impact students and raise classroom sizes. Another speaker – a local parent with a special needs child – said he is worried that his daughter “can’t even got to school anymore.”

Watch footage below (video is cued to public comment).

STATE MONITOR

In 2024, Nutley school officials announced that the district was facing a $7 million shortfall due to “inaccurate budgeting practices” that have been taking place over the past several years. The New Jersey Department of Education eventually assigned a state monitor to Nutley. In return, the state gave the district a no-interest loan to cover the gap.

The length of time before the monitor is removed will be up to the New Jersey Department of Education.

• See Related: Bad Budgeting Leads To $7M Shortfall In Nutley Schools
• See Related: Public Blowback Over Nutley School Budget Crunch Continues
• See Related: NJ Appoints State Monitor In Nutley Schools Amid Financial Woes

TAXES IN NUTLEY

Property taxes in New Jersey are mainly made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. Here’s how that played out in Nutley for 2024, according to state data (percentages rounded up):

• School – 50.8%
• Municipal – 34.1%
• County – 15.1%

The average Nutley resident paid $12,942 in property taxes on a home valued at $491,883 last year. Here are the previous five years for comparison:

• 2023 – $12,650 in taxes on a home valued at $491,074
• 2022 – $12,439 in taxes on a home valued at $321,936
• 2021 – $12,344 in taxes on a home valued at $321,172
• 2020 – $11,791 in taxes on a home valued at $320,248
• 2019 – $11,519 in taxes on a home valued at $319,338

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