April 30 has been scheduled as the date for a public hearing on the $201.4 million budget the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education has introduced for the 2018-19 school year.
District administrators said the budget will be supported by the collection of $138.39 million in taxes from residential and commercial property owners in the district’s eight sending municipalities: Colts Neck, Englishtown, Farmingdale, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro.
Residents will have the opportunity to comment on or ask questions about the budget during the public hearing at 6:30 p.m. April 30 at the district’s administration building, 11 Pine St., Englishtown.
The 2017-18 budget totaled $201.9 million and was supported by a tax levy of $135.75 million, according to district administrators. The increase in the tax levy for 2018-19 amounts to $2.64 million, although the total budget has decreased by $500,000.
The FRHSD will receive $51.56 million in state aid for 2018-19; that is the same amount the district received in 2017-18. Administrators will use $11.8 million from surplus funds (savings) as revenue in the 2018-19 budget. The 2017-18 budget used $10.5 million from surplus.
Administrators have not yet presented the high school district tax rate and the assessed value of the average home for each sending municipality for 2018-19, but did provide the total amount of taxes that property owners in each municipality are projected to pay in the upcoming year:
• Colts Neck: $13.5 million for 2018-19; down from $13.96 million in 2017-18;
• Englishtown: $1 million for 2018-19; same as 2017-18;
• Farmingdale: $569,765 for 2018-19; up from $541,919 for 2017-18;
• Freehold Borough: $3.6 million for 2018-19; same as 2017-18;
• Freehold Township: $28.20 million for 2018-19; down from $28.21 million for 2017-18;
• Howell: $30.96 million for 2018-19; up from $28.99 million for 2017-18;
• Manalapan: $27.57 million for 2018-19; up from $26.7 million for 2017-18;
• Marlboro: $32.95 million for 2018-19; up from $32.73 million for 2017-18.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Administratration Sean Boyce spoke about the district’s enrollment and staffing, saying, “We expect to see a continued modest decline in enrollment, about 1 percent. However, those numbers are subject to change depending on student acceptance into vocational programs. Additionally, we expect a slight decrease in staffing once the enrollment numbers are finalized.”
Freehold Regional High School District taxes are one item on a property owner’s tax bill. A total tax bill also includes municipal taxes, Monmouth County taxes and other assessments. The taxes an individual pays to a taxing entity depend on the assessed value of that individual’s home and/or property and the tax rate determined by each taxing unit.
