Taxes held flat for years by spending down a large savings account

What happened

Linden's local school tax levy has been exactly $92,215,916 in every year its budget filings report, so local taxpayers have had no increase. The district funds the gap with state aid, which rises to $74,041,895 in 2026-27, and with its reserves: the capital reserve falls from $58.8 million audited at June 2024 to $56.7 million at June 2025 and a projected $38.5 million by June 2027, and the legal reserve is projected to reach zero over the same period. The business administrator told the board in March 2026 that the district is now ten to twelve million dollars below adequacy under the state's funding formula, and the audited accounts warn that using fund balance for day-to-day operations means it must be replenished every year.

Why it matters to families

A flat tax bill is real, and so is the way it is being paid for. Spending a building-repair reserve down by a third in three years, and a legal reserve to nothing, means either the state keeps increasing aid, or the levy rises, or something gets cut. Families should know which of those is coming.

The evidence

The 2026-27 user-friendly budget filing lists the total tax levy as $92,215,916 for 2024-25 actual, 2025-26 revised and 2026-27 proposed alike, state aid of $74,041,895, budgeted fund balance of $5,892,613, a capital reserve falling from $58,802,104 at 30 June 2024 to $38,486,780 projected at 30 June 2027, and a legal reserve falling from $10,112,128 to $0 over the same span. The March 2026 budget recording has the business administrator saying the district is 'ten or twelve million below adequacy'. The audited 2024-25 report states: 'The District once again had a zero percent (0%) tax increase due to increases in State Aid. An area of concern is that the district is currently utilizing its fund balance to support general district operations.'

The source