Hoboken School Board Faces 24.35% Tax Levy Increase in Tentative Budget

In a recent Hoboken Board of Education meeting, the board discussed a tentative budget for the 2024-2025 school year, which includes a significant tax levy increase of 24.35%. Superintendent Christine Johnson presented the budget, outlining the challenges and key factors contributing to the increase, including the implications of the S2 legislation, which resulted in a loss of almost $2.9 million in state aid over five years. Despite these losses, the district managed to maintain an average tax levy increase of 5.12% since the 2019-2020 school year. The current proposed increase reflects the end of S2 state aid cuts, the transfer of previously federally funded items back to the general budget due to the expiration of COVID grants, and costs associated with contracts, aging facilities, and enrollment growth.

The budget revealed a general fund budget of over $73 million, with a total general fund budget of $88,350,715, including the preschool program. Superintendent Johnson highlighted that the increase also encompasses the cost of 20 new staff positions deemed essential, including teaching positions, registered behavior technicians for special education, and apprentice teachers. Notably, the budget also includes a $1.6 million transfer into capital reserve for the modular classroom project at Wallace Elementary School, which aims to alleviate overcrowding at Brandt Elementary School. Without this project, the funds would reduce the tax levy from 24.35% to 22.16%.

Facility costs, special education needs, and other benefits like pensions and insurances also contribute to the tax increase. The business administrator noted that the budget had already been reduced from an initially higher figure and that any further reductions would be explored.

The impact of the tax levy on the average assessed property valuation of $526,000 in Hoboken is estimated at an increase of $632. This figure may adjust once the tax rate is finalized. The board intends to provide further clarification on the concept of ‘banked cap’ in future meetings, which could influence the budgeting process.

Note: This meeting summary was generated by AI, which can occasionally misspell names, misattribute actions, and state inaccuracies. This summary is intended to be a starting point and you should review the meeting record linked above before acting on anything you read. If we got something wrong, let us know. We’re working every day to improve our process in pursuit of universal local government transparency.
Superintendent:
Christine Johnson
School Board Officials:
Ailene McGuirk, Sheillah Dallara, Chetali Khanna, Sharyn Angley, Alex De La Torre, Thomas Kluepfel, Malani Cademartori, Antonio Graña, Leslie Norwood

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