Tax Increase Called for in Hillsborough's Proposed School Budget

Hillsborough, NJ -- Hillsborough and Millstone Borough taxpayers may see an increase in their taxes based on the proposed 2016-17 school budget.

The Hillsborough Board of Education voted unanimously to introduce the $119.9 million tentative budget at its Tuesday meeting.

The budget calls for a 1.29% increase or $71 for a Hillsborough taxpayer with a home assessed at $350,000. Millstone boro would see an increase of 2.63% or $153 for an average assessed homeowner of $350,000.

Overall the budget increases just over $4 million from 2015 and can be linked to a number of factors including: salary increase, healthcare costs, special education, transportation for special education and curriculum.

Hillsborough Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jorden Schiff pointed to a number of ways the district was able to keep costs down for next year.

The referendum helped a great deal and allowed the district to get more debt service aid from the state. Shared services with other districts and the Children At Play program have borth also helped.

Transportation with bussing has helped with the change in the middle school start time by a half hour which has saved “hundreds of thousands of dollars for the district,” Schiff said at the meeting.

The $16 million energy improvement project is also another factor that is now saving $800,000 annually for the district.

Looking into the new year, the district is planning on preserving some things such as all programs in the district and class sizes.

The budget also plans to implement several new items including having a stronger emphasis on science.

There will also be an expand concurrent enrollment courses, which are high school courses that are taken at Raritan Valley Community College and count as college credits.

Chromebooks will be added for Grades 3 to 4.

The district will provide Mental Health Support to Auten Road Intermediate School and Hillsborough Middle School.

Lastly, sign language will be introduced next school year for students to take.

The finalized budget will go before a public hearing and vote on April 25.