Hillsborough's $43M Budget Proposes Tax Increase For Residents For 2026

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough introduced its 2026 municipal budget with a proposed tax increase for residents on Tuesday.

Christian Bushell, the township’s CFO and director of finance, presented the budget at the April 28 Township Committee meeting. The 2026 budget was $43 million, making the proposed increase roughly $3 million for 2026.

Bushell said the township faced major increases at the start of the budget process.

"We had some increases that basically we have no control over. These are statutory increases. Some of these are contractual increases that are pretty, pretty, pretty large," said Bushell.

He pointed to a 7 percent increase in pensions, a 13 percent increase in the joint insurance fund, and a 12.7 percent increase in health care costs.

Bushell said municipalities in New Jersey must stay within both spending caps and levy caps before a budget can be introduced.

He said the township’s maximum increase under the spending cap was about $1.247 million. He also said an ordinance approved by the governing body increased the allowable cap increase from 2 percent to 3.5 percent this year.

Bruchelle said the township was able to move some appropriations from inside the cap to outside the cap after confirming the change with the state, including shared service money for courts and some health insurance costs. He said the township’s maximum levy increase worked out to about $2.4 million, or 8.4 percent, and the budget came in at around an 8.3 percent levy increase.

The total budget is about $43 million, with about 72 percent funded by current year taxes, according to the presentation.

Bushell said public safety makes up about 25 percent of spending, public works close to 10 percent, insurance around 12 percent and statutory obligations such as pension and FICA around 13 percent.

Tax Impact

Bruchelle also said the township’s assessed valuation rose from about $9 billion to about $9.5 billion.

Using an average home value of $628,000, he said the tax rate increase would have about a $56 annual impact.

He said the budget will be sent to the state for review, and the township hopes to return for the public hearing and adoption on May 26.

• 2026 Budget Introduced: https://www.hillsboroughnj.gov/.../1164-04-29-2026.../file

• Watch the Budget Presentation: https://www.youtube.com/live/xtdvlM2OadE

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