Watchung Hills cut Warren's school tax rate 3.52 percent and the average bill still went up $58
The regional board approved a $51,502,743 budget on April 28. Warren's rate falls from $0.3597 to $0.3470 per $100, but the average assessed home rose 5.38 percent, so the bill rises $58.22.
The Watchung Hills Regional High School Board approved its final 2026-2027 budget at a public hearing on April 28, 2026. Total operating revenue and expenditures are $51,502,743, up 3.7 percent from $49,658,323, with a tax levy of $37,659,870, up 3.9 percent. For Warren Township, the regional school tax rate falls from $0.3597 to $0.3470 per $100 of assessed value, a decrease of $0.0127 or 3.52 percent. The average assessed Warren home still pays $58.22 more, rising from $3,488.04 to $3,546.27, because the average assessment rose 5.38 percent to $1,021,852.
The mechanic that explains everything
A falling rate and a rising bill are not a contradiction. They are arithmetic.
Your school tax is the rate multiplied by your assessment. Warren's regional school rate fell 3.52 percent. The average assessed home in Warren rose 5.38 percent, from $969,669 to $1,021,852. A 5.38 percent larger base multiplied by a 3.52 percent smaller rate produces a bigger number, and that number is $3,546.27 against $3,488.04 last year. The increase is $58.22, or 1.67 percent.
The same thing happened at the town level. Warren's assessed ratables rose 7.58 percent to $6,570,823,700. When the ratable base grows faster than the levy, the rate has to fall for the levy to land where the board set it. Warren's total regional school levy is $22,803,572, up $833,507 or 3.79 percent.
So a falling rate applied to a higher assessment is not a tax cut for the average household. Whether it is a cut for you depends entirely on whether your assessment moved more or less than the township average.
What is in the $51,502,743
| Line | 2026-2027 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue and expenditures | $51,502,743 | Up 3.7 percent from $49,658,323 |
| Tax levy | $37,659,870 | Up 3.9 percent from $36,229,892 |
| Use of surplus and reserves | $2,063,590 | Up 30.0 percent |
| Tuition revenue | $8,300,220 | |
| Salaries and benefits | $35,162,483 | Up 5.0 percent |
| Special education tuition | $2,957,348 | Down 20.3 percent |
| Capital outlay | $891,752 | Up 58.0 percent |
Two lines move in opposite directions and mostly cancel. Salaries and benefits rise 5.0 percent, which is the usual driver in any school budget. Special education tuition falls 20.3 percent, which is the cost of sending students to out of district placements. That line is enrollment driven and can swing hard in either direction year to year, so a 20.3 percent drop is not a policy achievement and should not be read as a permanent saving.
Capital outlay rising 58.0 percent to $891,752 is where the discretionary spending sits. New items include $280,000 of 9th grade Chromebooks, a $450,000 Regional Drive paving project and a $225,000 digital media lab renovation.
The district also applied $1,400,000 in reserves with zero net tax levy impact: $675,000 from capital reserve, $125,000 from maintenance reserve and $600,000 from tuition reserve. Reserves used this way lower what the levy has to carry this year. They are not recurring revenue.
The budget presentation shows state aid of $3,060,080 as a revenue line, and separately reports that total state aid rose $52,204 to $3,422,857, with special education aid down $8,120. The presentation does not reconcile the two state aid figures, so I am reporting both rather than combining them.
Vote tallies for the Watchung Hills board and the Warren Township K-8 board are not publicly posted for these budget adoptions. Treat the votes as unverified.
The K-8 district is the larger bill
Warren households pay two school taxes. The regional high school is the smaller of the two.
The Warren Township K-8 district adopted its own 2026-2027 budget on April 27, 2026 at Warren Middle School. The grand total across all funds is $74,432,329, with a General Fund tax levy of $53,179,465. That grand total sits $5,848,775 above the March tentative figure because a capital reserve transfer for debt of exactly that amount was added between tentative and adoption. The levy did not change. The district's User Friendly Budget lists an estimated 2026-27 total school tax rate of $0.8367 per $100 on an estimated net taxable valuation of $6,107,636,600, with an equalized rate of $0.8443.
Set those side by side and the proportion is clear. The K-8 rate of $0.8367 is roughly two and a half times the regional rate of $0.3470. When Warren residents talk about school taxes, most of the dollars are in the district that ends at eighth grade.
Note that the two documents use different valuation bases. The K-8 User Friendly Budget uses an estimated net taxable valuation of $6,107,636,600, while the regional tax analysis uses Warren assessed ratables of $6,570,823,700. Do not add the two rates together and multiply by one number.
Who runs the district
Watchung Hills Regional High School has three constituent member municipalities that levy taxes for it, Warren Township, Watchung Borough and Long Hill Township. Green Brook Township is a sending district that pays tuition for its grades 9 through 12 students and is not a member. The Superintendent is Elizabeth Jewett, Ph.D. The Business Administrator is William Scholts. Michael Birnberg is Board President and Heather Trumpore is Vice President.
The preliminary budget was approved March 24, 2026 and submitted to the County Office on March 27. The April 28 hearing produced the final version described above.
What to do with this
If you want to know what your own regional school tax does next year, the number that matters is not the rate. It is your assessment change relative to the 5.38 percent township average. Above it, your bill rises more than $58. Below it, less.
- Watchung Hills Regional High School, 2026/27 Budget Presentation, Public Budget Hearing, April 28, 2026. https://www.whrhs.org/uploaded/Business_Office/26_27_Budget/2026_2027_Public_Budget_Hearing_Presentation_-_4.28.26.pdf
- Watchung Hills Regional High School, Tax Analysis and Comparison, Warren Township, 2026/27. https://www.whrhs.org/uploaded/Business_Office/26_27_Budget/G_-_Warren_Tax_Analysis_Comparison_-_2025_vs_2026.pdf
- Warren Township Schools, Board of Education Meeting Agenda, April 27, 2026. https://www.warrentboe.org/_files/agenda/April%2027,%202026.pdf
John Mangini
Broker / Owner, NextHome Premier
Warren Township resident and full time broker, serving clients since 1999. Warren 07059 is written from live Garden State MLS data, township records and primary sources. Every figure is traceable to a source listed above.
