Brick BOE to Decide on Budget With $4M Tax Increase Amidst State Aid Cut

Brick Township Board of Education/Schools (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The Brick Township Board of Education is scheduled to vote on a final budget for the 2025-26 sch0ol year that would raise an additional $4 million in tax revenue after the district qualified for a program to receive state aid in exchange for raising property taxes.

Brick Township’s beleaguered school district has suffered seven years of intensive, multi-million dollar budget cuts thanks to a law, commonly known as S-2, that originated from an agreement between Gov. Phil Murphy and former Senate President Steven Sweeney. The measure de-funded districts such as Brick, which the state claimed had declining enrollment and did not have high enough property tax rates to support its school system. Critics have blasted the formula’s secretive nature, as well as raised concerns that many of the cuts appeared politically motivated. Last year, Trenton has began allowing school districts to exceed the state’s 2 percent cap on spending and tax levy increases in exchange for small amounts of relief from the cuts, which have resulted in larger class sizes after the layoff of hundreds of staff.

Some districts in the same position as Brick have accepted the higher tax rates, but other districts, such as Toms River, voted them down. In Toms River’s case, however, the state imposed a 10 percent property tax increase on residents even after the board rejected it. Brick Township’s school board will now be presented with a similar choice, with members deciding Tuesday night to raise taxes by an additional $4,161,475 from the tentative budget presented earlier this year, or to go back to the drawing board.

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Earlier this year, Brick school officials introduced a tentative budget that would be supported by $130,606,297 in property tax revenue. The revised budget, taking into account the state program, would tax residents an additional $4,161,475, for a total tax levy of $134,767,772. If the revised budget was to be adopted, the state would inject an additional $208,074 in “tax levy incentive aid” into the district budget. Since the tentative budget was introduced, district officials have also calculated an additional $705,615 in available funds.

According to a list of expenditures that appears on the agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting, the district would use the funds to add teaching positions dispersed throughout grade levels, which would account for nearly the entire amount raised by the tax levy increase.

For the 2024-25 school year, Brick Township’s tax levy was $128,045,389, according to state data. If the revised budget were to be adopted, the tax levy for the 2025-26 school year will be $134,767,772. The board will meet at 7 p.m. following a short executive session at 6:45 p.m. at the district’s technology training center at 101 Hendrickson Avenue.