Point Pleasant School Budget Includes Small Tax Increase For 2023-24

POINT PLEASANT, NJ — The Point Pleasant Borough Board of Education approved the 2023-24 school budget that has a 1.2 percent tax increase, affected in part by a significant increase in health insurance premiums.

The board approved a total budget of $53,191,718, with a school tax levy of $40,925,126. That levy, which includes debt service, includes an increase of $21 for the average home assessed at $398,000.

Health insurance premiums are rising 11 percent for the coming school year, district officials said, and the district sought a tax cap waiver of $444,519 to accommodate the increase.

The Point Pleasant budget also reflects a decrease in state aid. That aid reduction initially was $254,851 under Gov. Phil Murphy's proposed budget, but supplemental stabilization aid of $168,202 reduced that cut by 66 percent.

Initially, the aid cut meant the elimination of an administrative position, an elementary and high school teaching position through attrition and a reduction in force, said Sarah Ulaky, a district spokesperson.

The restoration of funding allows the district to add a high school English Language Arts teacher and implement a targeted reading support program, she said. The district also will be able to increase the instructional supplies budgets across all four schools.

Point Pleasant has made a number of personnel cuts under S2, the state funding law that has cut aid to more than 150 districts since 2018.

The budget includes a $1 million withdrawal from capital reserve for the HVAC project at Memorial Middle School. Ulaky said that project will be substantially completed by September but supply chain issues affecting critical components of the system may not allow the project to be completed until Spring 2024.

There also is a $500,000 withdrawal from maintenance reserve for ongoing schools and grounds maintenance.

The budget presentation by Superintendent Adam Angelozzi can be viewed online.