Tax Increase, Staff Reduction Proposed In Bridgewater-Raritan School Budget For 2026-27

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education introduced a tentative $193.9 million budget proposing a tax increase and staff reduction for the 2026-27 school year during Tuesday's board meeting.

The tentative budget would increase by 3.23 percent or roughly $6 million over last year for 2025-26.

This means that the tax impact on the average home property in Bridgewater Township valued at $629,800 will pay an increase of $36.79 per $100,000 of assessment per year.

The average home property in Raritan Borough, valued at $323,225, will pay an increase of $27.35 per $100,000 of assessment per year.

"I think it is important for all taxpayers to know that we’ve had amongst the lowest levels in the whole county over the last three years," said Superintendent Robert Beers about the tax increase.

In 2023-24, the Bridgewater-Raritan School District had a 2 percent tax levy increase, which Beers said was the fourth lowest in Somerset County.

In 2024-25, the district saw a 2.49 percent increase, which Beers said was the fifth lowest in Somerset County.

"And this year, when you see our numbers, I do believe that once everyone reports out and shows what their tax levy increase is, we are going to be toward the bottom as far as percentage of increase," said Beers.

"We want to make sure that we provide for our students, provide for our staff, but we also have to keep the taxpayers on our mind as well and make sure that we are fiscally prudent," said Beers.

Initially, when the district set out to create the budget, Bridgewater-Raritan was facing a roughly $9.1 million increase in expenditures.

Business Administrator Kevin Lomski shared that the largest drivers were contractual salaries of $3,658,725 or up 3.4 percent; health benefits of $5,045,974 or up 16.8 percent; and transportation of $399,470 or up 3.57 percent.

The district is allowed a 2 percent tax levy without going out to an extra vote.

This put the district at a $5.7 million gap. To help narrow the gap, the district looked at staffing.

"Over the last four to five years, we have had a slow decline in enrollment that is usually 100 to 200 students per year. So with that, we have had a decline in staff. We are not changing class sizes, things like that, but we need less staff because we have less students," said Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Dr. Dan Fonder.

Due to the referendum, several positions were already budgeted for the addition of full-day kindergarten. The addition of staff includes nine kindergarten positions, two additional security monitors, and one additional counselor, for a total of 12 positions.

Additionally, the district looked at reducing staff through attrition, enrollment, and consolidation. A total of 29 positions would be reduced, including nine at the elementary level, eight at the secondary level, 10 at the support staff and services, and two administrators.

"A net reduction of about 17 positions in the budget," said Fonder.

The district is also allowed to take advantage of some factors to adjust its tax levy higher due to health care costs and banked cap.

Along with the reduction in staff and benefits for those positions, the district is also using $660,000 from its fund balance.

On March 12, the state Department of Education released the 2026-27 state funding figures, showing the district is expected to get $287,879 more than last year in school aid from New Jersey as part of the latest state budget proposal.

For the 2026-27 school year, the district is slated to receive $15,349,043, or 2 percent more than in the 2025-26 school year. The district also received a 2.37 percent increase in 2025-26.

Included in the budget are also some facility projects such as softball field improvements, roof replacements, paving/concrete repairs, painting projects, and referendum work.

Beers thanked Lomski and the administration for their work on the budget.

"It certainly was not easy to do because when you see that health care is rising at the rate that it is rising, as well as some other costs that are beyond our control, I think to come in at a 3.04 tax levy increase is quite a feat, "said Beers.

He also noted that some of the budget pressures affecting not just the Bridgewater -Raritan district, but all districts in New Jersey are not going away.

"There is no end in sight with the health care costs rising exponentially. And as we know, energy costs. And if you’ve driven by the gas pump recently, they are going up quite a bit as well, so we are always going to have those pressures, and we have events that are outside of our control, and we’ve got to do our best to keep things under control where it's palatable for the taxpayers as well," said Beers.

Board Vice President Rebecca Hassouna asked whether the rising gas prices would impact transportation. Lomski assured the Board that the district has a contingency fund for fuel.

Board members Jeremy Li and Langfang "Lucy" Li both shared their concerns with the budget, referencing the transition of the gifted and talented program.

A presentation on the transition of the program was offered by Beers during the meeting

"The defunding of our gifted and talented programs is nothing short of an insult to our families… I can not in good conscience look our taxpayers in the eye and support an unaffordable budget that slashes core academic excellence to fund administrative bloat and pet therapy," said Jeremy Li.

Board member A.J. Joshi accused Li of inciting "hysteria" instead of listening to Beer's presentation.

"The AI [Academically Independent] program is not going away. In fact, this program is similar to the highest performing school districts in the state. This is a similar program that they are proposing," said Joshi.

"Why would anyone us sitting here drive this boat into an iceberg? When this is our crown jewel of the municipality. Our school district is our asset. Why would anyone of us do anything to the detriment of the community? Please ask yourself this before creating this hysteria," said Joshi.

Board member Jennifer Loughran noted that Li's speech about the AI program and itemization of budget items was offensive to the community.

"All of the things you mentioned, from athletics to music to therapy dogs used for kids with special needs affects a large number of students in our district, and I just can't even understand how you ever made that speech, let alone didn’t recognize how offensive it was," said Loughran.

Ultimately, the introduction of the budget was passed. A public hearing and adoption of the final budget is set for the April 28 Board of Education meeting.

Watch the full budget presentation below:

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