By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
The Upper Freehold Regional School District Board of Education will hold a public hearing on its 2017-18 budget that will increase the average homeowner’s tax bill by about $200 in Upper Freehold Township and by about $50 in Allentown.
The hearing will be held at 7 p.m. May 3 at the Newell Elementary School, High Street, Allentown.
The district serves residents of Upper Freehold and Allentown. Residents of Millstone Township attend the district’s Allentown High School on a tuition basis.
The 2017-18 budget, which can be amended prior to its final adoption, will total $41.7 million and be supported by the collection of $25.7 million in taxes to be paid by property owners in Upper Freehold Township and Allentown.
The school district’s 2016-17 budget totaled $41.07 million and was supported by a tax levy of $25.19 million.
In Upper Freehold, the school district collected $21.6 million in taxes from residential and commercial property owners in 2016-17. The average home in the township was assessed at $465,000 and the school tax rate was $1.76 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of that home paid $8,184 in school taxes.
For Upper Freehold in 2017-18, the school tax rate will be $1.81 per $100 of assessed valuation and the owner of a home assessed at $465,000 will pay $8,416 in school taxes, an increase of $232.
In Allentown, the school district collected $3.59 million in taxes from residential and commercial property owners in 2016-17. The average home in the borough was assessed at $288,582 and the school tax rate was $1.874 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at the borough average paid $5,406 in school taxes.
For Allentown in 2017-18, the school tax rate will be $1.89 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at $288,582 will pay $5,454 in school taxes, an increase of $48.
In the 2016-17 budget, Allentown residents faced a much larger increase in school taxes. The school taxes for the average homeowner in Allentown increased by $521, while the school taxes for the average homeowner in Upper Freehold increased by $15.