Madison Board of Education Approves Tentative Budget, Tax Increases

The Madison Board of Education presented a tentative budget at a special BOE meeting on Tuesday, March 17.

Madison Borough residents can expect to see an increase of 4 percent, after the BOE presented an overview of the tentative budget at Tuesday’s meeting. The increase of 3.98 percent breaks down to an additional $24.85 per month to their taxes, based on the value of the average home, or $298 annually, according to the tentative budget released by the Madison BOE.

The BOE said it is challenging meeting the technology needs of students and the district without an increase in state aid. The board of education looked to maintain a certain set of principles, including maintain class size and all classes and programs from the prior year, look for opportunities to enhance educational opportunities and programs, and be considerate of the taxpayers dollar.

Four of the major costs in the budget include salaries, health benefits, pension and Social Security, and special education tuition placements.

Each of the major cost drivers have increased since the previous budget. Salaries make up more than 63 percent, health benefits make up 15 percent, pensions make up 2 percent and special education accounting for 4.3 percent, for a total of 85%. The budget for 2015-16 is $35,047,390, compared with the 2014-15 budget of $33,386,887, resulting in an impact of $1,660,503 or 4.97 percent.

For more information regarding the tentative 2015-2016 budget approved by the Madison Board of Education, read the overview at Madison Public Schools website.