The Cranbury Township Board of Education adopted a $23.3 million budget covering school and district operations for the 2025-26 school year at a meeting on April 23.
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.
School taxes are one item on a property owner’s total tax bill, which also includes municipal taxes and Middlesex 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 the Princeton High School (PHS) tuition, K-8 regular education programs, special education, operations, maintenance, and transportation.
Proposed appropriations for the budget include $4.6 million towards PHS tuition; $4.3 million to K-8 regular instruction programs; $3.4 million to employee benefits; $1.8 million toward transportation, $1.5 million to special programs; $1.56 million to facilities – operations, maintenance and security; $1.45 million towards student support services; $1.3 million to out of district tuition for special education, and $1.2 million toward debt service.
When it comes to the PHS tuition, the school district will spend $22,207 per student for the upcoming school year, which is a $646 increase from 2024-25.
In addition to the tax levy, revenues in the budget include $1.07 million from state aid (a $33,000 decrease from 2024-25); $450,000 withdrawal from capital reserve; $339,321 used from fund balance (savings); $202,675 from miscellaneous items; $165,000 withdrawal from the maintenance reserve; and $150,000 from extraordinary aid, according to budget documents.
