FREEHOLD – The Freehold Borough K-8 School District Board of Education has adopted a $38.68 million budget to fund the operation of the district in 2021-22 and will collect $40,000 less in property taxes during the upcoming academic year.
The budget, which was adopted by the board on May 3, will be supported by the collection of $10.74 million in local taxes to be paid by Freehold Borough’s residential and commercial property owners. Other revenue includes $887,805 to be appropriated from the district’s surplus fund (savings).
For 2020-21, the $34.84 million budget that was adopted by the board was supported by a local tax levy of $10.78 million and the receipt of $15.9 million in state aid.
For 2021-22, the local tax levy will decrease to $10.74 million to support the $38.68 million budget. The school district will receive $19.1 million in state aid, an increase of $3.18 million from the current 2020-21 academic year.
Freehold Borough’s state aid has increased each year since the enactment of state legislation known as S-2 in 2018.
In 2020-21, the school tax rate was 97 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. On a home assessed at $270,000, K-8 school taxes totaled $2,619 (0.97 x 2,700).
In 2021-22, the school tax tax rate is expected to decrease to 95 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. On a home that is still assessed at $270,000, K-8 school taxes will decrease to $2,565 (0.95 x 2,700).
Freehold Borough K-8 school taxes are one component of a property owner’s tax bill, which also includes Monmouth County taxes, Freehold Regional High School District taxes and Freehold Borough municipal taxes.
Individuals pay more or less in taxes depending on the assessed value of their home and/or property and the tax rate established by each taxing entity.
“We are very satisfied with our 2021-22 budget,” Superintendent of Schools Rocco Tomazic said. “We are pleased the state has provided additional state aid to bring us up to 78% of what we should have, and is back on track to attain full funding by fiscal year 2025. We continue to hold our tax levy at the fair share level (as outlined in) the School Funding Reform Act.
“With these added funds, we are growing our Tier III academic supports to their proper levels, including additional basic skills and academic intervention personnel.
“We are also expanding our middle school technology program to better meet state standards. These academic initiatives, together with facility upgrades, set us up for a very solid 2021-22 school year,” Tomazic said.
The district includes the Park Avenue Elementary School, the Freehold Learning Center elementary school and the Freehold Intermediate School. The district’s enrollment on Oct. 15, 2019 was 1,644 pupils. The enrollment on Oct. 15, 2020 was 1,625 pupils. The projected enrollment on Oct. 15, 2021 is 1,677 pupils.
