By Stephen Appezzato
MIDDLETOWN – Following a series of public engagement sessions, the Middletown Township Board of Education this week approved a motion that could allow up to a 10.1% tax increase in next year’s school budget. The final tax levy for the 2025-2026 school year will be decided April 30, when the school board will adopt next year’s budget.
Between now and then, school board officials will weigh specific cuts to the district, a potential land sale, and an agreement with the township over funding of special law enforcement officers in Middletown schools.
Last week, at a Middletown Township Committee press conference, Mayor Tony Perry posed a deal to the school district to help close a projected $10 million gap in next year’s $197 million school budget.
“This proposal includes two key pieces,” Perry said: The first is using the township’s Open Space Trust Fund to purchase a 10-acre parcel of land near Sleepy Hollow Road and Kings Highway that is owned by the district. The land sale would “provide the board much-needed revenue without raising taxes,” according to Perry, who said the parcel would also be preserved from development.
The second component the township committee proposed is restructuring the district’s agreement with the township for special law enforcement officers in schools. The township would “be absorbing part of that cost.”
“This update will keep our students safe while helping to reduce costs. Together, these two actions will provide the district $2.6 million in support, funding that can stabilize the district and keep these schools open,” Perry said.
School officials will not approve or deny these two actions just yet; the district is still weighing cuts, layoffs and its tax levy before its upcoming budget vote.
No School Closures Next Year: Official
At the special board of education meeting April 8, school officials continued the budget conversation and ultimately approved a motion that could allow up to a 10.1% tax increase next year.
“I’m just going to take the elephant out of the room right now: there is no plan for school closure for next year,” Middletown schools superintendent Jessica Alfone said. “We heard you loud and clear. I think we’re all recognizing of the fact that we all in this room are passionate and want what’s best for our kids, collectively,” she said.
Going into the meeting, the board of education was to vote on a motion approving an application to the state for up to a 5.88% tax increase next year. The application must be submitted by April 14 to be eligible for extra tax levy incentive aid, which is scaled to the district’s final tax levy.
But, even at a 5.88% increase, Alfone said next year’s budget could not be rectified without other actions, like the land sale to the township, restructuring of special law enforcement officer funding and staff cuts. If the district ultimately approves a 10.1% tax increase next year, some of these steps would be circumvented.
The final plan for the tax levy, cuts, the 10-acre land sale and the special law enforcement officer agreement with the township will be adopted when the school board votes on its 2025-2026 budget April 30; there will also be a public hearing on the vote at that meeting.
At the April 8 meeting, all school board members voted to approve the application to the state for an up to 10.1% tax increase except for board vice president Jacqueline Tobacco and board president Frank Capone.
“I will not support for this town, being on the record, that I would ever go up to 10.1% in this economy and with people struggling,” Tobacco said, citing Middletown taxpayers who wrote to the school board expressing concern over a high tax levy. Capone echoed Tobacco’s concern.
Over the next few weeks, school officials will weigh what cuts and actions must be taken in balance with different tax levies to make next year’s budget work.
“Between now and the time that our finalized budget is due, there is a lot of discussion that needs to be had about all these pieces and how they fit together to be responsible to the taxpayer, pay attention to what our kids need and give us breathing room to be able to put together a plan that really works and is viable for the long term, not something very short term,” Alfone said.
Additionally, Alfone said the district has partnered with a consultant for a “large-scale efficiency study of the district,” to chart a course for future financial security and equity.
“We’re not oblivious to the fact that there are some odd send and receives (student districting) across the district that certainly create inequities, as some parents spoke about,” Alfone said.
“I truly believe this is our one unique opportunity to get this right once and for all,” she added. The efficiency study is estimated to take between four and five months.
The article originally appeared in the April 10 – 16, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
