LAVALLETTE — The Lavallette Board of Education gave the public a look at the tentative budget for the 2025 to 2026 school year, totaling approximately $5,481,607, at its Thursday, May 1 meeting.
This figure of more than $5.48 million is approximately $30,000 less than last year’s $5.51 million budget.
According to Board Business Administrator Loretta Hill, based on Lavallette’s average assessed home value of $905,220, the average homeowner will pay $1,661 in school taxes, an annual increase of $31.
“Lavallette is one of the lowest operating school tax rates in Ocean County,” she said. “It’s basically 18 cents (per $100 of assessed value).”
The estimated tax levy will be $4,454,260, which is an increase of 1.92% compared to last year. A state law puts a 2% cap on the increase a district can make to its tax levy each budget cycle. Last year, the tax levy was approximately $4,370,000.
“Our federal funds over the years have gone down considerably, because we had all of the money from the CARES Act,” said Hill. “At the highest, we had almost $363,000 in federal funds. And this year, as of right now, we have only budgeted $72,655. We were denied Title I (funds to support achievement of students from low-income families), and we appealed it because they don’t take into consideration our tuition-based students.”
The board adopted the budget resolution in a unanimous vote.
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