Update: West Orange Town, School Budgets Await Public Hearings

This article was updated on May 9

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The school and municipal budgets in West Orange are nearing the finish line.

Property taxes in New Jersey are made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. Here's how that broke down in West Orange last year:

• School – 61.1%
• Municipal – 25.7%
• County – 13.2%

TOWN BUDGET

A public hearing for the 2022 West Orange municipal budget was originally scheduled for May 3, but was postponed when a council member became ill, according to the town clerk’s office.

The hearing was then rescheduled for May 9. However, it has been postponed again, the municipal finance department told Patch on Monday. A future date hasn't been set.

No information about the tax impact of the budget or revenue/expenditures was available on the municipal website as of Friday. Township Business Administrator/CFO John Gross said more information about the budget will be available at the public hearing; more details weren't immediately available.

• See related article: West Orange Homeowners Pay 53rd Highest Property Taxes In NJ
• See related article: Tax Gap In Essex County: Many Wealthier Towns Pay Lower Rates

SCHOOL BUDGET

The West Orange Public School District got an unexpected boost from Gov. Phil Murphy's proposed state aid figures. But there will still be a tax increase for local homeowners as part of the 2022-23 proposed budget, administrators said earlier this spring.

The West Orange Board of Education held a meeting on March 24 to discuss the upcoming school budget. See the district's preliminary budget presentation here, or watch the video below.

According to the figures, there will be a 2.42 percent impact to the school portion of a West Orange homeowner's property taxes. This will mean a $217 hike for the average annual tax bill of a home valued at $336,282.

The proposed budget includes all current staff, and all instructional, extracurricular and athletic programs. It also includes $2.4 million for capital improvement projects. District officials noted they will utilize $1.22 million of the banked cap, an unused tax levy for use in the next three budget years. Read More: West Orange School Budget Has Tax Hike, Despite State Aid Boost

District administrators are still working on the final version of the school budget, a spokesperson told Patch on Tuesday.

A public hearing is scheduled for Monday, May 9. Board meetings are held in the Library Media Center at West Orange High School, 51 Conforti Avenue.

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