Understanding Millburn’s 2026–27 School Budget: A Complete Preliminary Review

Below you will find the full detailed 2026-27 Millburn Preliminary School Budget-this can change between now and when it is adopted.

Here are some observations in looking at the ACFR for context, along with the 2025 Actual, 2026 Revised and current 2027 preliminary budget figures.

Total comparative per-pupil cost- $21,735 (’25 actual) to $23,140 (’26 revised) to $24,340 (’27 preliminary) while enrollment goes from 4,413 (’26) to 4,453 (’27).

Operating budget rises from ~$108M (’25 actual) to ~$113M (’26 revised/approved) to ~$118M (’27 preliminary).

Employee Benefits are predictably the biggest pressure point: ~$17.4M (’25 actual) to $20.70M (’26 revised/approved) to ~$24.8M (’27 preliminary).

Regular instruction is steady ~$37.6M (’25 actual) to ~$37.5M (’26 revised/approved) to ~$38.2M (’27 preliminary).

Special education instruction continues to edge up from ~$7M (’25 actual) to ~$7.3M (’26 revised/approved) to ~ $7.5M (’27 preliminary).

Extraordinary/other support services jumps: ~$3.8M (’25 actual) to ~$4M (’26 revised/approved) to $5.1M (’27 preliminary).

The notes indicate this is due to one-to-one aides moving out of tuition and into this line.

General admin. moves up to ~ $2.1M (’27 preliminary) from ~$1.5M (’25 actual) and ~$1.9M (’26 revised/approved)

School admin drops to ~$3.8M (’27 preliminary) from ~$4.5M (’25 actual) and ~$4.2M (’26 revised/approved)

Changes in the admin areas appear congruent with notes pointing to a reorg.

Administrative IT bumps from $1M (’25 actual) to ~$1.16M (’26 revised/approved) to $1.36M (’27 preliminary) with notes indicating backend licenses were moved there as a reason.

Transportation remains pricey, moving from $4.76M (’25 actual) to ~$5.5M (’26 revised/approved) to $5.14M (’27 preliminary) with notes pointing to fewer routes.

Athletics stays up – $1.15M (’25 actual) to $1.34M (’26 revised/approved) to $1.32M (’27 preliminary)- notes show stipend increases and expansion of unified sports.

Security also stays high @ ~$705K (’25 actual) to ~$699K (’26 revised/approved) to $771K (’27 preliminary) noting replacement of security cameras.

The tax levy keeps taking on more of the load ~$100M (’26 revised/approved) to ~$106M (’27 preliminary) for the general fund levy and state aid falls from $7.35M (’26 revised/approved) to $7.15M (’27 preliminary).

Source Documents