A public hearing on the Princeton Public School’s proposed $111.3 million budget for 2025-26 has been set for the school board’s April 29 meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Valley Road administration building.
The proposed budget includes a 5-cent increase in the school district property tax rate – from $1.26 per $100 of assessed value to $1.31.
The owner of a house assessed at the town average of $844,737 would pay $11,100.25 in school district property taxes, which is a $433.21 increase over the prior property tax bill of $10,667.04.
A Princeton property owner’s tax bill includes the school district property tax; the municipal property, library and open space taxes; and the Mercer County property and open space taxes.
School district officials cited meeting students’ needs and pressure on health care costs driven by specialty prescription costs, such as the widespread use of GLP-1 drugs, as among the reasons for the budget increase.
There are more students who need extra services and some who are sent out of district to specialized schools, officials said. Maintaining small class sizes is another factor.
Tuition for the Princeton Charter School, as well as salaries and benefits for school district staff, account for 82% of spending in the budget, or $83.6 million. The total of other expenses are $18.2 million, or 18%.
On the revenue side, property taxes account for 81% of the school district’s revenue to support the budget. The amount to be raised by taxes for the operating budget will go up from $87.9 million to $90.5 million.
Other sources of revenue include $2.4 million from Princeton University and $4.9 million in tuition from the Cranbury School District, which sends its high school students to Princeton High School. It does not have its own high school.
The school district will receive $5.6 million in state aid, which is a decrease of $174,774 from the current budget.
The district also will apply $3.8 million from its fund balance, or surplus account, as a source of revenue.
