The Upper Freehold Regional School District Board of Education has adopted a $43.7 million budget to support the operation of the school district during the 2020-21 school year.
Upper Freehold Regional consists of the Newell Elementary School, the Stone Bridge Middle School and Allentown High School. Residents of Upper Freehold Township and Allentown attend all three schools in the district.
Students from Millstone Township attend Allentown High School through a send-receive relationship between Upper Freehold Regional and the Millstone Township K-8 School District.
For 2020-21, the school board has proposed collecting a local tax levy totaling $27.5 million from residential and commercial property owners in Allentown and Upper Freehold Township to support the $43.7 million budget.
Upper Freehold property owners will pay about $24 million of the tax levy and Allentown property owners will pay about $3.5 million of the tax levy, according to district administrators.
During the 2019-20 school year, the district’s budget totaled $43.23 million and the tax levy was $27.27 million.
From 2019-20 to 2020-21, total spending has increased $470,000 and the tax levy has increased $210,000.
In 2019-20, the school tax rate in Upper Freehold was about $1.89 per $100 of assessed valuation. The average home in the township was assessed at $488,300. The owner of that home paid about $9,230 in school taxes.
In 2020-21, the school tax rate in Upper Freehold is projected to be about $1.84 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at $500,000 will pay about $9,200 in school taxes.
In 2019-20, the school tax rate in Allentown was about $1.87 per $100 of assessed valuation. The average home in the borough was assessed at $290,842. The owner of that home paid about $5,440 in school taxes.
In 2020-21, the school tax rate in Allentown is projected to be about $1.80 per $100 of assessed valuation. The average home in the borough is assessed at $291,600. The owner of that home will pay about $5,250 in school taxes.
School taxes are one item on a property owner’s tax bill, which also includes municipal taxes and Monmouth County taxes.
The amount of taxes a property owner pays is determined by the assessed value of his home and/or property and the tax rate that is set by each taxing entity.
For the 2019-20 school year, the regional school district’s budget was supported by the receipt of $5.67 million in state aid.
For the 2020-21 school year, the regional school district’s budget is expected to be supported by the receipt of $5.25 million in state aid, a decrease of $420,000.
The school district’s state aid has decreased each year since the enactment of state legislation known as S-2 in 2018.
In recent weeks, administrators in some Monmouth County school districts have expressed concern that the amount of state aid their districts have been promised for the 2020-21 school year could change due to the financial impact the 2020 coronavirus pandemic has had on New Jersey.
Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to present an updated budget address in late August and school superintendents have said they are waiting to learn if their districts will receive all of the state aid that has been promised.
“I am glad our budget is set for next year, but unfortunately at the cost of great staff members within our district,” Upper Freehold Regional Superintendent of Schools Mark Guterl said.
“As a district, we are passionate to make our budget work and to make sure we do whatever we can to support our students and continue to make the Upper Freehold Regional School District an innovative district everyone is proud of,” Guterl said.
According to a budget document that has been posted on the district’s website, the enrollment on Oct. 15, 2018 was 2,278 students; the enrollment on Oct. 15, 2019 was 2,215 students; and the projected enrollment for Oct. 15, 2020 is 2,215 students.
