MIDDLE TOWNSHIP – The school district has adopted a $50.2 million budget for 2025-2026 that relies on a property tax levy of $32.5 million and state aid of $13 million.
The school tax rate for the fiscal year increased by 2.5%, from $1.1436 to $1.1727. The general fund levy in total dollars went up 4.1%.
This is the first time the district’s operating budget, which was adopted by the school board April 30, has topped $50 million.
The current fiscal year budget as introduced was $48.6 million, meaning spending increased $1.6 million in the new budget, or 3.3%.
For property owners in Middle Township, the school tax levy represents 52% of their total tax bill. The municipality’s local purpose tax, which has not yet been adopted, is 28%, the various county taxes 14.5%, and the special district taxes 3.4%.
The two major sources of revenue for the district are the tax levy and state aid. In the last two years dependence on the tax levy has increased. In fiscal year 2024 the levy represented 61.5% of the operating budget; the budget just adopted for fiscal year 2026 has the tax levy at 65% of the operating budget.
Middle, like many other county school districts, is seeing less state support, which places a heavier burden on taxes. The increase in the operating budget from FY2024 to FY2026 is $1.8 million, but the increase in the tax levy is $2.7 million.
The school district’s revenue from federal sources is also down with the ending of federal pandemic funds. In FY2024 special funds from federal sources contributed $2.8 million to the overall budget. More than $1 million of those funds came from pandemic recovery programs. By FY2026 total revenues from federal sources was down by half, to $1.4 million.
The budget includes a designated tax levy for debt service of $1.5 million. It also makes use of $1.2 million in operating budget fund balance.
One way of looking at the budget is through per-pupil costs. In FY2024, the last fiscal year for which data is available, the per-pupil costs were $16,164. In the new budget, the projected per-pupil cost is $17,300, an increase of 7%.
The budget document shows 2,565 students projected to be enrolled in the fall.
In September 2024, the district asked voters to approve a $26.5 million plan to bond for a series of expenses, including an expanded pre-K, improved school HVAC systems and rejuvenation of some athletic facilities. Voters rejected the request, which would have permanently raised their tax levy.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
