Cranbury property owners face a slight increase in school taxes with a projected $23.3 million budget for the 2025-26 school year.
On March 19, the nine-member school board voted unanimously to approve the tentative budget moving it forward in the budget process to receive review and approval from the county superintendent before a public hearing is held.
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for April 23 in Cranbury Township inside the Cranbury School’s Academic Commons.
“Thankfully, Cranbury will not be facing any cuts at this time,” said Karin Weiner, school business administrator.
“We were able to utilize previous funding sources and reevaluate areas of spending in the current budget to help offset some of the reduction in state aid funding and the uncertainty of federal funding at this time.”
In Cranbury, the school tax rate is projected to be 99.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of an average home assessed at $614,433 would pay $6,138 in school taxes for the 2025-26.
School taxes are one item on a property owner’s total tax bill, which also includes municipal taxes and county taxes.
The amount an individual pays in property taxes is determined by the assessed value of an individual’s home and/or property, and the tax rate that is set by each taxing entity.
The 2025-26 projected tax levy is $20.1 million and would be the amount property owners from the township would pay in school property taxes to support the district.
The budget covers areas such as the Princeton High School (PHS) tuition, K-8 regular education programs, special education, operations, maintenance, and transportation.
Proposed appropriations for the budget include: $4.63 million towards Princeton High School (PHS) tuition; $4.33 million to K-8 regular instruction programs; $3.4 million to employee benefits; $1.83 million toward transportation, $1.53 million to special programs; $1.56 million to facilities – operations, maintenance and security; $1.45 million towards student support services; and $1.32 million to out of district tuition for special education.
Outside of the tax levy, proposed revenues include: $1.07 million from state aid (a $33,000 decrease from 2024-25); $450,000 withdrawal from capital reserve; $339,321 from fund balance (savings); $202,675 from miscellaneous items; $165,000 withdrawal from the maintenance reserve; and $150,000 from extraordinary aid, according to a preliminary budget presentation.
