Tax Increase, 33 Staff Positions Cut Approved In Bridgewater-Raritan School Budget

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater and Raritan homeowners will see a school tax increase and staffing position cuts across the district in the upcoming 2025-26 school year.

The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Board of Education approved the budget of $187,916,465 for the 2025-26 school year with an increase of 2.64 percent or roughly $4.8 million over the 2024-25 budget at its Tuesday night meeting.

Seven board members voted in favor of the budget, with board member Jeremy Li voting against it and LanFang "Lucy" Li abstaining from voting.

Superintendent Robert Beers presented the budget at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday.

Under the approved budget, the tax impact on the average home property in Bridgewater Township valued at $576,459 will pay an increase of $16.26 per $100,000 of assessment per year.

The average home property in Raritan Borough valued at $322,884 will pay and increase of $46.26 per $100,000 of assessment per year.

When the district started the budget process, they projected a shortfall of roughly $4.3 million.

However, the district also saw that enrollment declined around 340 students in total over the past four years. Additionally, the district is projecting about 100 fewer students in K through sixth grade for next year compared to this year, said Business Administrator Kevin Lomski.

To balance the budget, there will be a reduction of 33 staff positions across the school district. The reduction will be a combination of attrition, such as retirement, and lower enrollment numbers.

Positions to be eliminated include:

• 7 - full-time K-6 grade level employees
• 5 - full-time 9-12 grade level employees
• 20 - full-time district support services employees (teacher assistants, child study team, counselors, interventionist, speech-related services, instructional)
• 1 - full-time administrator

The reduction in positions is saving the district $3 million to help close the budget gap. Other factors the district used to close the gap included:

• Miscellaneous/fund balance revenue - $450,000
• State aid - $185,000
• Health care adjustment - $800,000

The main drivers of the budget include:

• Salary - 56.6 percent
• Benefits - 20.6 percent
• Maintenance - 6.8 percent
• Transportation - 6.2 percent
• Tuition - 3.3 percent

The budget also includes a number of proposed projects across the district including:

• Bridgewater-Raritan High School Media Center
• Milltown/Wade paving
• Eisenhower gym floors and courtyard renovation
• Painting projects

Referendum work:

• Window replacement phase 2
• Primary school HVAC upgrades
• Intermediate school toilet renovations
• Full-day kindergarten classroom renovations
• Bradley Gardens cafeteria renovation
• High School turf, track resurfacing, and baseball field site work

See the full budget presentation below(begins at 5:30):

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