Hoboken BOE unanimously approves tentative $104.8M budget with 27% tax hike

The Hoboken Board of Education (BOE) unanimously approved a $104,848,035 budget with a 27 percent tax hike as City Hall stares down a $17 million municipal deficit.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

” … This was a very challenging year in regard to the construction of a budget for so many reasons. In an effort to be as clear as possible and as transparent as possible, I’m going to present the most pertinent information first and then work backwards,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christine Johnson began at Monday’s special meeting.

She continued that the preliminary spending plan is up $16,436,133 from last year’s budget, with a $93,865,800 tax levy – which is a $19.9 million increase from the 2025-2026 scholastic year – or a 27 percent take hike.

Johnson stated that for the average Hoboken home assessed at $532,600, that would be an additional $822.60 annually in school taxes – a $68.64 monthly increase.

When breaking down the shortcomings the district is facing, the schools chief noted that although state aid went up a little over $1.1 million, only $411,171 could actually be utilized for this budget cycle.

Further, charter school contributions have gone up, as have special education tuition, student transportation for out of district programs, with an additional 211 students throughout the district compared to the prior year.

“As you all know, with salaries of our staff members come the health benefits and I’m sure everyone has been reading in the papers that health benefit increases are skyrocketing. And for those of you who are not sure when we talk about health benefits, we are talking about medical, dental prescriptions, and vision,” Johnson explained.

“And the Hoboken Public School District is in the state health benefits plan. The state health benefits plan advised districts to increase their health benefit dollars for the following school year in three different ranges: A very conservative range for budgeting, a moderate range for budgeting, and a range that might be considered a little bit reckless in terms of budgeting.”

She further stated that even in the conservative ranges, the healthcare benefits costs were increasing by approximately 35 to 37 percent, with anything under 30 percent not being perceived as responsible for long-term financial planning.

Johnson also noted that classroom supplies such as textbooks and technology and furnishing are recurring costs, while factoring in new costs such as relocating pre-school classrooms.

While a long-term plan has been approved, it won’t take effect until the 2027-2028 scholastic year.

Johnson concluded her presentation by noting that this budget reflects every allocation that was requested by school principals and directors, calling it “a full, comprehensive submission of the budget” before cuts and/or additional revenue streams are evaluated.

Hoboken BOE Business Administrator and Board Secretary Victoria Lopez said the healthcare cost hike will be about 30 percent after trustee inquired on where the district ended up.

A short time later, BOE Trustee Antonio Graña inquired on why their municipal allocations for payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements had changed.

“We originally estimated last year at $250,000, we did not end up receiving that because I believe all of the projects that had been included in that had not online. So we decided to make this year’s revenue estimate match close to what we received last year,” Lopez indicated.

She added that it would be “a pleasant surprise” if they receive more, but it’s not expected.

Additionally, Trustee Tom Kluepfel asked if the Hudson County Schools of Technology adopted municipal tuition fees, would it still be able to impact their current BOE budget?

Johnson said that while it was discussed around “a county roundtable” about a month-and-a-half ago, the proposal is no longer being considered, as HCV first reported one week ago. She estimated that this would’ve been an additional expense of about $750,000 a year.

BOE President Ailene McGuirk noted that the money they are sending to the charter schools is up 9.65 percent from last year, and that, along with soaring insurance costs, are examples why the budget ended up the way it is.

“I think this budget, while maybe when you look at it just from a dollars and cents standpoint may seem a little shocking, but as you did deeper, it’s actually really a reflection of increased enrollment at a time when costs that are outside our control are increasing exponentially and we have to be able to account for those,” she declared.

“It’s not the prettiest thing that I’ve ever seen, but I do think coming down from this is going to be a difficult process. It’s going to require some difficult decisions, but personally, I don’t see how we’re going to come down a whole heck of a lot from this number unless we can find some really creative ways to generate revenue …”

Anyone wishing to way in on the budget can email HPSDbudget@hoboken.k12.nj.us, the board president also said.

Before public comment, Johnson added that she had “a pretty aggressive revenue generation plan” that she was going to present to the board in the coming weeks.

2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, the only public speaker during the meeting, acknowledged the financial shortcomings of the state, county, city, and schools in light of the city facing their own 20-plus percent tax increase.

Of the points she raised, she suggested expanding use of facilities to address recreation needs and potential sources of revenue for the BOE for potential sources of revenue.

With no other speakers, the board approved the consent agenda, including the prelim budget unanimously (9-0).

The public hearing for the Hoboken BOE budget is currently set for Tuesday, May 5th.