SAYREVILLE – The Sayreville School District Board of Education has adopted a $120 million budget that will fund the operation of the district during the 2020-21 school year.
The $120 million budget, which was adopted by the board on May 4, will be supported by a tax levy of $69.2 million to be paid by the borough’s residential and commercial property owners. Other revenue includes $1.67 million from the district’s surplus fund (savings).
The district’s 2020-21 budget had a school tax rate of $2.9596 per $100 of assessed valuation. The average home in the borough was assessed at $145,024. The owner of that home paid about $4,292 in school taxes.
For 2021-22, the school tax rate is projected to increase to $3.0080 per $100 of assessed valuation. The average home in the borough is estimated to be assessed at $146,015. The owner of that home will pay about $4,392 in school taxes, an increase of $100.
Individuals pay more or less in taxes depending on the assessed value of their home and/or property. School taxes are one component of a property owner’s tax bill, which also includes Middlesex County taxes and Sayreville municipal taxes.
The $118.9 million budget adopted by the board for the 2020-21 school year was supported by a tax levy of $68 million and the receipt of $29.1 million in state aid.
For the 2021-22 school year, Sayreville is intended receive $33.2 million in state aid, an increase of $4.16 million. The school district’s state aid has increased each year since the enactment of state legislation known as S-2 in 2018.
Sayreville was originally slated to receive $31.4 million in state aid for 2020-21 last year, but the amount was decreased to $29.1 million because of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on New Jersey.
“We were thrilled to recently learn that the state reinstated the state aid that they took from us last summer due to the pandemic, while also continuing to provide us with additional equalization aid,” Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe said. “We will utilize these additional funds to expand our academic programs, especially our STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] Learning Academy at SWMHS [Sayreville War Memorial High School] and to accelerate the learning loss of our students due to the pandemic.
“We will also use it to continue to improve our technology infrastructure and to purchase additional one-to-one educational devices,” he continued. “Finally, we will use the additional state funding to continue the refurbishment and renovation of our facilities and to expand school security in the evening at all our schools.”
