Ridgewood School Board Approves $250 Increase For Homeowners

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — The school district portion of the average homeowner's property taxes is increasing by $250 this year due to a 3.3 percent increase in the Fiscal Year 2019 tax levy.

The tax increase is 3.6 percent, or $36.02 per $100,000 valuation.

The Board of Education approved a $94.8 million tax levy, the portion of the budget funded by local taxes, Monday as part of a $110.1 million operating budget.

The $110.1 million operating budget is 4 percent, or $4.6 million, greater than last year's $105.5 million budget.

More than two-thirds of the budget goes towards salary and benefits. Twelve percent of the budget goes towards instructional improvements, supplies, and repairs while 10 percent is for capital projects and maintenance.

Several new curriculum and programs will be implemented, including preschool classes for 4-year-olds, various middle and high school courses, including English Language Arts and Social Studies, and enrichment of third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade STEAM program.

Several high school classes have been introduced or revised, including: AP Human Geography, Shakespeare I and II, Honors Computer Programming, three pre-calculus programs, and Robotics II, among others.

Additionally, $2 million has been budgeted for maintaining buildings and grounds, including a one-button lock down system, infrastructure upgrades and renovations, and replacing the security alarm at Hawes Elementary School.

The 26 Advanced Placement courses and five World Language courses offered at the high school will be kept, as will 29 high school varsity, junior varsity, and freshman sports.

The high school's more than 100 activities, including student clubs, teams, and clubs, will also remain.

For more information about the budget, click here.

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