Middletown BOE Approves Tentative Budget With 2 Percent Tax Hike

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Tuesday night, the Middletown school board voted to approve the tentative 2022-23 school year budget.

This budget comes with a two percent property tax increase for Middletown homeowners. The property tax increase will bring in $152.7 million next year for Middletown schools, $2.9 million more for the school district than property taxes brought in this year.

So for the average Middletown home assessed at $530,200 last year, taxes will increase $136 per year, or $11.40 each month.

The budget was approved in a 6-3 vote. The three board members who voted against adopting this budget were: Joan Minnuies, Michael Donlon and newest Board member Kate Farley, just sworn in in January.

All the rest voted to adopt it.

While the BOE approved the budget Tuesday night, the budget is still considered "tentative," as the district still has to formally submit the budget to the state Department of Education. Changes to the budget can still be made before it is finalized.

For example, there could be additional cost savings found in the district's employee health insurance plans, explained business administrator Amy Gallagher.

As Patch reported earlier this week, the Middletown school district saw a reduction in $900,000 in state aid for next year. The district was actually prepared for this, said Gallagher (suburban school districts like Middletown have suffered state aid cuts for years now). And Gallagher said she actually wrote next year's budget expecting a $1-million state aid reduction.

"So we gained back about $100,000 or so," she said.

Capital projects this 2022-2023 budget would fund include:

• Replacement of the turf field and track at Middletown High School North (this is the biggest and most expensive capital project the school district is planning. It is too early to give an estimate on how much this will cost, said Gallagher. The project has not even been put out to bid yet.)
• Rooftop unit replacement at Bayview
• Flooring replacement at Bayview
• Extend paved areas for outside seating - Thompson, Thorne, Harmony
• Replacement of ceiling tile in APR - Harmony
• Main bathroom renovations - High School South
• Generator hookups - Bayshore
• Replace science wing doors - High School South

Capital projects are still being considered and priced out. These projects will be funded by capital reserves. The current balances in capital and maintenance reserves are $104,631,989 and $7,768,252, respectively, said Gallagher.

For next year, Middletown will hire additional teachers at:

• 1 Business teacher for the CTE pathway
• 1 HS Guidance counselor
• 3-4 American Sign Language teachers for middle school and high school
• 1 elementary teacher at Middletown Village based on projected enrollment
• Increase of 1 part-time high school ESL teacher to full time; increase 2 part-time elementary interventionists to full time

By law, next year's school budget must be adopted by May 9. You can watch Tuesday night's budget presentation below or read the budget presentation here: https://www.middletownk12.org/...

Prior reporting: Middletown May See 2 Percent Property Tax Increase For Schools (March 7)

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