$106 Tax Hike for Average Home in School Budget

The average Hackettstown homeowner will see a $106.80 increase in their property tax bills for the 2013-14 school year according to board secretary Teresa Barna.

With a tax levy–the portion paid for by property taxes–seeing a 1.8-percent increase, the tax rate for Hackettstown comes to 3.8 cents for every $100 on an assessed home in the municipality. The total levy for the new school year is $14,809,950, up $241,450 from the current year’s plan.

That tax increase figure is based on the average home in town assessed at $280,000.

Hackettstown’s school district encompasses two elementary schools: Willow Grove and Hatchery Hill; Hackettstown Middle School; and Hackettstown High School.

In that budget package came a 2.2-percent increase in state aid this year, at a total of $5,034,289–up from $4,924,135 used for the current year.

The district has budgeted for just 75-percent of the federal aid it received last year, Barna said.

Superintendent Dave Mango has conducted the first of three scheduled “strategic planning” meetings involving community members and going over potential scenarios to save money and make curriculum stronger in the years ahead.

The next of those meetings is scheduled for Thursday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Hackettstown High School.