Belleville School Board Sees Tie Vote On Budget, Potential Tax Hike

BELLEVILLE, NJ — The Belleville Board of Education’s highly anticipated budget hearing on Monday ended with a tie vote from trustees, leaving the future of the school district’s 2024-2025 spending plan in limbo – for now.

Lissa Missaggia, Luis Muniz and Gabrielle Bennett-Meany voted yes on the proposed budget. Michael Derro, Brenda Pacheco and Nicole Daddis voted no. Tracy Williams abstained “due to a conflict.”

The ball is now apparently in the court of the New Jersey Department of Education’s state monitor for the Belleville School District, Thomas Egan, who was assigned to oversee the district’s finances in 2014.

Egan was not present at the meeting, but administrators noted that he was watching it online.

“One of the things that attracted people to this community was that it was affordable,” Daddis said, explaining her no vote. “We are making it so that this is no longer the case.”

“It’s absurd to be asked to support this budget and raise this much – I cannot in good conscience say yes,” she added, nonetheless thanking district administrators and finance committee members for their hard work and “due diligence.”

But the 3-3-1 vote left other board trustees shaking their heads.

“What just happened right now is that we released our ability to make this decision and we just gave it to the state monitor,” Muniz said.

Superintendent Richard Tomko also commented on the situation after the board’s vote.

“I don't know what Mr. Egan is going to talk to us about now after this, however, I do know that this was a very tight budget to start with and I think he was hoping the board can make a decision tonight – but it couldn’t,” the superintendent said.

“I don't know which way this needle is going to turn, but I'm sure you'll all find out soon enough,” he added.

Egan has intervened in the decision-making process on Belleville’s school board in the past, recently overruling a 4-3 vote on the School 1 property, Belleville Watch previously reported.

BUDGET DETAILS

The district’s business administrator Matthew Paladino and Tomko –who is resigning on June 30 to take a new job in Garfield – have released a budget presentation with details about the latest version of the spending plan. Download it online here or view it below.

The board introduced its budget proposal in March, citing a potential $413 tax increase for a homeowner with a property valued at $275,000. District administrators held a public workshop with additional details on April 22 (watch the video here).

That number has softened significantly after a $2.75 million round of cuts, administrators said Monday.

According to the presentation from Paladino and Tomko, the school portion of a Belleville homeowner’s taxes would now increase by $171 (for a home valued at $275,000) under the proposed budget.

Previous years’ increases include:

• 2023-2024 – 2.02% ($81 for a home assessed at $278,700)
• 2022-2023 – 2.45% ($97 for a home assessed at $277,600)
• 2021-2022 – 1.91% ($75 for a home assessed at $277,100)
• 2020-2021 – 2.62% ($99 for a home assessed at $276,474)
• 2019-2020 – 2.78% ($101 for a home assessed at $276,000)
• 2018-2019 – 0.8% ($28 for a home assessed at 238,132)

According to Tomko – despite a 22 percent increase in projected state aid for the district – there are several factors that are contributing to the potential tax hike. Some cost drivers include funds for more than 5,200 free student meals, rising health care expenses and increasing student enrollment. Increases in transportation costs, especially for special education students outside the district, are also adding to the financial crunch.

Some critics have questioned administrators’ figures, including former board member Michael Sheldon, who claimed that there were “many potentially problematic and arguably false statements” made during Monday’s budget hearing.

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