By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – While Red Bank’s proposed 2026 budget will keep the municipal tax rate flat, the municipal purposes budget has grown by 7.74%, increasing taxes for the average home by about $231.75 for the year.
At the April 2 tentative budget presentation, borough officials said the plan reflects “tough decisions,” made in response to sharp increases in health insurance and solid waste costs.
“The insurance increases statewide, nationwide, have just gone crazy,” borough administrator Jim Gant said, but the borough has to support the staff “by giving them benefits that are respectable” to provide services.
“We’re trying to keep costs down, but we have to keep that level of service up,” said Thomas Seaman, the borough’s chief financial officer.
The budget will be introduced at the April 9 borough council meeting, with a public hearing and adoption expected May 14.
Seaman broke down the municipal purposes budget, which is $31.2 million for the year, and calls for raising approximately $16.4 million in taxes, while relying on surplus funds to limit the increase.
The total proposed tax levy for the borough includes the school district, county and library tax, in addition to the municipal tax. More than $39 million of the overall property tax bill goes to schools, with the county levy about $7.5 million. The Red Bank Public Library taxes are about $1.18 million and over $500,000 is collected by the borough for Red Bank RiverCenter. Homeowners do not pay RiverCenter taxes and the borough does not control them either. Those taxes are paid by Red Bank businesses, determined through a special assessment or separate processes.
For the municipal purposes budget, the amount to be raised by taxes from homeowners is based on property assessments. According to Seaman, for a home assessed at about $651,000, the average municipal tax bill is projected at approximately $2,989 – an increase of $231 from last year. The total property tax bill, including school and county taxes, is estimated at about $11,007.
Although the municipal tax rate remained at 0.459, the same as last year, Seaman noted that does not necessarily translate into stable tax bills. The tax levy depends on how individual properties are assessed, largely driven by residential home sales.
“If your assessment’s gone up with the average assessments in the town, over 7%, you’ll see an increase of that percentage,” Seaman explained. “If your assessment stays flat, you won’t have an increase from the municipal part.”
Officials shared two other reasons for the increase in the municipal tax levy. Gant noted that a roughly 26% increase in health insurance premiums accounts for over $1 million in new costs. Additionally, solid waste removal contracts, including trash and recycling collection, rose by approximately 15.7%, or about $300,000.
Salaries account for about 40% or $12.3 million, with debt service, capital improvements and other operating costs making up much of the municipal appropriations this year.
To help soften the impact on taxpayers, the borough is using about $3.7 million in surplus to fund the budget roughly 83% of its available fund balance. The borough ended 2025 with about $4.4 million in surplus. Seaman said using more surplus this year helps keep the budget increase “reasonable” while maintaining stability.
The article originally appeared in the April 9 – 15, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
