Public Hearings on Mendham Taxes Set for Tuesday, April 24

Mendham Township residents will have their chance to weigh in on two of their biggest tax bills tomorrow night (Tuesday, April 24, 2018) when the Mendham Township School District and the Mendham Township governing body hold public hearings on their respective appropriations and tax levies.

The district Board of Education meets at the Mendham Township Elementary School, 18 W. Main St. in the Brookside section of Mendham Township, and the governing body meets in Town Hall, 2 W. Main St., also in Brookside. Both meetings start at 7:30 p.m.

The school district will be presenting an operating budget of $17,888,147, with a total tax levy of $15,804,417, which includes taxes applied to the general fund of $14,615,379 and debt service of $1,189,038. This is slightly less than the 2017-18 tax levy.

For the 2018-19 school year, the district expects 719 enrolled students split between the elementary school and Mendham Township Middle School. The total budgetary cost per pupil anticipated for the coming year is $21,224.

The Mendham Township governing body will be voting on a proposed budget appropriation of $10,720,076, of which $8,056,266 is to be raised from local taxes. This represents a 3.9% increase over 2017. However, the municipal open space tax will be reduced in 2018 and an open space reserve applied, making the effective combined tax increase approximately 1.4%.

Overall, the school districts account for 66% of Mendham Township residents’ tax bill (39% for the local school district and 27% for the regional high school district). The municipality accounts for 20 percent of the tax bill, and the county levy amounts to 14%. It is estimated that the residents’ total tax bill will increase by $350 in 2018, based on an average home value in the township of $900,000.