We’re going to compare the 2026 Introduced Budget set for Tuesday’s Berkeley Heights Town Council Meeting against the 2024 ACFR and get to the rest of the agenda in another article.
The ACFR is the best document to compare the budget to because it is a record of what was actually spent versus the 2025 approved budget which is just a plan that may or may not have been followed.
The 2025 ACFR is not available for public review as recent changes in state law extended the deadline to August – well after Budgets are normally approved.
However, unlike the BHPSNJ budget, the Township is actually providing detail to the public instead of expecting everyone to buy into a multi-million dollar budget based on a few top-line figures.
The ’26 BH Intro budget is a few dollars shy of 35 Million Dollars in general appropriations, will have its public hearing on May 5th and is divided into three parts…
~22M inside the cap
~12.2M Outside the Cap
~900K reserved for uncollected taxes
The tax ask increases ~$600k from 2025 to ~17.6M with about 16M for municipal and ~1.7M for library.
This leaves the Town $9,767.52 under the appropriations cap and $1,848,457.06 under the 2% levy cap.
Strong assumptions on tax collections remain (~99% collection rate) which appears justified based on the 2025 rate.
Moving to revenue, the surplus stays flat (4.9M) and the budget assumes a hefty drop in revenue from ~12.2M to ~11M with a major driver being a 2.3M drop in ‘Other Special Items’ with two of the biggest declines connecting to ‘Reserve for Debt Payment’ ($2.3M to $738, 658) and ‘Capital Surplus’ (from 350k to ~64K). Uniform Construction is also looking to dip by about 150k.
There are offsets – PILOT revenue increases ~300k, investment interest increases by over 100K. Public and private revenues offset with appropriations rise sharply to ~$2,7M, including a $1,275,000 Safe Routes to School grant for Sherman Avenue.
One of the biggest flash points with this budget is debt service which drops by nearly a million dollars from 2025 to 2026 (~6M- ->~5M) – one of the biggest changes from last year on paper.
Using the 2024 ACFR as the most recent audited baseline we see cost pressure points connected to Police salaries, insurance, utilities and sewer.
| Category | 2024 ACFR actual (paid or charged) |
2026 introduced budget | Document-grounded note |
|---|---|---|---|
| General liability insurance | $732,833.08 | $1,129,500 | Higher than 2024 actual |
| Employee group health insurance | $2,643,890.23 | $2,992,600 + $366,400 | Inside + outside cap |
| Police salaries | $3,654,640.18 | $4,019,300 | Higher than 2024 actual |
| Crossing guard salaries | $126,441.50 | $173,400 | Higher than 2024 actual |
| Fire other expenses | $174,816.58 | $209,700 | Higher than 2024 actual |
| Fire hydrant service | $223,989.55 | $280,000 | Higher than 2024 actual |
| Electricity | $457,254.47 | $507,000 | Utility pressure |
| Gasoline | $148,366.04 | $215,000 | Utility pressure |
| Telephone | $148,103.50 | $259,000 | Large increase |
| Sewer plant salaries | $576,547.50 | $736,500 | Higher than 2024 actual |
| Sewer plant other expenses | $1,529,810.85 | $2,264,744 | Major increase |
| Public Buildings & Grounds salaries | $73,782.68 | $241,500 | Higher than 2024 actual |
| Public Buildings & Grounds other expenses | $395,151.52 | $222,500 | Lower than 2024 actual |
| Recreation salaries | $86,719.78 | $93,000 | Slight increase |
| Maintenance of Parks salaries | Not shown in 2024 ACFR | $138,500 | Separate 2026 line |
| Maintenance of Parks other expenses | Not shown in 2024 ACFR | $9,800 | Separate 2026 line |
| Vehicle maintenance salaries | $192,239.81 | $134,900 | Lower than 2024 actual |
| Vehicle maintenance other expenses | $151,691.13 | $188,000 | Higher than 2024 actual |
| Library support | $1,308,390.37 | $1,737,268 | Formula-driven increase |
| Debt service total | $4,641,841.64 | $5,167,403 | Still major cost |
| Capital Improvement Fund | $59,500 | $1,000,000 | Significant increase |
| Six-year capital plan | Not applicable | $32,631,900 | Planning document only |
Read More : The 21st District Face-Off: How Seven Towns Stack Up on Per-Household Spending
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