School Tax Hike In Belleville; Monitor Makes Decision After Tie Vote

BELLEVILLE, NJ — A state monitor has approved a 6.42 percent tax hike in the Belleville Public School District.

Belleville Superintendent Richard Tomko gave an update on the district’s budget for 2024-2025 at Monday’s board of education meeting, noting that the New Jersey Department of Education’s state monitor for the Belleville School District – Thomas Egan – has made a decision on the tax levy.

Earlier this month, the Belleville Board of Education saw a 3-3-1 tie vote at a budget hearing, putting the district’s spending plan into limbo. That version of the budget would have meant a $171 tax increase for a homeowner with a property valued at $275,000 – which was knocked down from a $413 proposed increase in March. See Related: Belleville School Board Sees Tie Vote On Budget, Potential Tax Hike

The tie vote meant that the district’s proposed budget automatically went back to the “technical review” phase, which included a potential 10.2 percent increase to the local tax levy, Tomko said.

After it was sent to Egan for review, the state monitor informed the district that he was exercising his authority over the budget process. The result? A 6.42 percent tax hike, Tomko reported Monday (watch video footage of the May 20 meeting below).

In 2014, the New Jersey Department of Education assigned Egan to oversee the financial operations of the Belleville school district after a review of the district’s required financial audit revealed serious flaws in its finances, according to state officials.

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

Egan was not present at Monday’s meeting in Belleville, although board members and administrators said he was watching the livestream and had reviewed the meeting agenda.

A state monitor was also recently appointed in the neighboring school district of Nutley, which has been seeing severe budget issues this year. See Related: NJ Appoints State Monitor In Nutley Schools Amid Financial Woes

Property taxes in New Jersey are mainly made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. In 2023, the average Belleville homeowner paid $10,909 in property taxes on a home valued at $278,760. About 38.8 percent of that amount went to the school district. Read More: Property Taxes In Belleville-Nutley (See Latest 5-Year Breakdown)

Previous years’ increases in the Belleville school district 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)

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