Montclair Schools Facing $2.45M Budget Gap, Tax Levy Increase

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Public School District has begun hammering out its annual budget, with the goal of closing a budget gap of nearly $2.5 million.

The district’s business administrator, Christina Hunt, presented the 2025-2026 preliminary budget at the Montclair Board of Education meeting on March 17.

The $170.2 million spending plan – which is still in its early stages – is an increase from last year’s $162.89 million.

As it stands now, the budget would come with a $137.85 million tax levy, up from $130.56 million last year (5.58 percent).

Hunt said administrators are facing a deficit of $2.45 million, adding that she thinks it is possible to close the gap “without having teacher cuts.”

Last year’s budget didn’t contain any staff cuts for budgetary purposes. However, the district saw vocal pushback in 2023 after it made teacher cuts to balance the budget – including a student walkout.

A public hearing is scheduled for the 2025-2026 school budget on May 7, with additional discussions expected beforehand.

Watch video footage from the March 17 meeting below (the budget presentation begins around the 32:50 mark).

Property taxes in New Jersey are mainly made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. Here’s how that played out in Montclair for 2024, according to state data (percentages rounded up):

• School – 56.7%
• Municipal – 26.5%
• County – 16.9%

In 2024, the average Montclair resident paid $21,631 in property taxes on a home valued at $635,770 (not including credits and deductions).

• See Related: Here's How Much Montclair Homeowners Pay In Taxes (2025 Update)
• See Related: How Much State Aid For Montclair Schools? NJ Releases New Totals

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Montclair Facebook page.