New Jersey district budgets, compared
A statewide way into the User-Friendly Budget files: compare districts by published comparative cost, current proposal changes, funding mix, spending categories, tax effort, budget-enrollment rows, unusual/shared-service explanations, real-dollar cost changes, and UFB side-file signals.
NJDOE User-Friendly Budgets, 2025-26 latest year. Money changes are converted to 2025 dollars with CPI-U. Draft/WIP: preview statewide budget-pressure signals · How this budget data works → · Trace the source map · Read the generated statewide budget report · Browse county briefs · Scan district first reads · Understand budget measures · Compare budget models · Build storylines · Browse reporting leads · Open the category atlas · Open the comparison atlas
Start with the budget story
Choose the question before opening the long instrument. The useful budget read usually comes from a comparison frame, an inflation-adjusted movement, a category or source-row clue, a current proposal change, a payer shift, a denominator check, or a side-file exception, not from total spending growth by itself.
Is the district unusual for the right peer set?
County mean comparative costs run from $20,724 in Union to $30,573 in Cape May; Bergen has the widest within-county spread at $85,974.
- First move
- Start with county and slice comparisons before sorting individual districts.
- Watch
- Comparative cost is NJDOE's published line; this page does not recompute it from operating budget and enrollment.
Did the budget actually move after CPI adjustment?
From 2019-20 to 2025-26, statewide operating budget per UFB on-roll moved +$1,116 after inflation; mean published comparative cost moved +$304.
- First move
- Use the inflation-adjusted trend, then open the arithmetic decomposition.
- Watch
- UFB years mix actual, revised, original, and proposed budget bases; read real movement as a reporting screen.
Which spending, revenue, or source family carries the signal?
The broad pupil-cost mover is Support services at +$413; the largest budget-family movement is State aid at +$1.7B.
- First move
- Read standardized pupil-cost rows and family trends before raw source rows.
- Watch
- Families and pupil-cost rows can be nested or contextual; they are reporting lenses, not one additive schedule.
What changed in the latest proposed column?
In the latest file, proposed operating budgets are +$371.3M versus the revised/current column, and the mean published comparative-cost row moves +$215.
- First move
- Separate latest-file proposed changes from first-to-latest inflation movement.
- Watch
- Proposal changes are nominal latest-file dollars, not CPI-adjusted trend dollars.
Did the payer mix, levy, aid, or tax basis change the story?
Statewide operating revenue shares moved -4 pts local and +3 pts state; Equalization Aid moved +$896.4M and Total Tax Levy moved -$442.5M.
- First move
- Use operating funding shifts before moving into tax-rate, tax-base, or all-funds questions.
- Watch
- Operating revenue is General Fund operating revenue, not all-funds revenue or a property-tax bill.
Is the per-student story really about students, service load, or side files?
UFB planning rows show 5% sent-placement load and 16% special-education on-roll; matched fall enrollment differs from UFB on-roll by 84,790 students.
- First move
- Put UFB planning enrollment, service-load rows, and fall enrollment beside the cost claim.
- Watch
- UFB on-roll is a budget denominator and can differ from the fall enrollment denominator used elsewhere on the site.
This board is a route map. It tells the reader which evidence to open first and which shortcut to block before turning a UFB number into a claim.
What is news, not just background?
Start here before sorting the long district table. The plain fact that budget-year dollars usually rise is background; a budget read becomes reportable when fair peer position, CPI-adjusted movement, current proposal action, category evidence, payer shifts, denominator context, one-time support, or side-file exceptions change the interpretation.
| Budget read | Judgment | What makes it reportable | Start with | Block this shortcut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal budget growthExpected background in budget-year dollars. | Background unless it survives the real-dollar, proposal, category, or denominator tests. | Report it only when CPI-U movement, current proposal rows, source-family shifts, or enrollment math change the read. Real operating budget per UFB on-roll moved +$1,116; mean comparative cost moved +$304. | Somerset Co Ed Serv CommEnrollment growth dampened cost: +$193,097; SomersetNorthern Region Educational Services CommissionReal operating-budget growth: +$76,509; PassaicSouth Bergen Jointure ComReal operating-budget growth: +$39,087; BergenReal movementCost anatomy | Do not sell ordinary nominal growth as the budget story. |
| High or low cost rankUseful only after the peer frame is named. | Reportable when the district is unusual for county, model, scale, cost band, or service-load slice. | Start with NJDOE comparative cost as published, then choose the fair local or structural benchmark before using a statewide rank. | Bergen Co Special Servicepublished comparative cost $103,100; statewide rank 1Mercer Co Special Services School Districtpublished comparative cost $95,262; statewide rank 2Burlington Co Spec Servpublished comparative cost $79,585; statewide rank 3Comparison atlasDistrict leads | Do not turn a cost rank into waste, quality, adequacy, or efficiency by itself. |
| Current proposal changeA live budget-adoption signal, not a trend line. | Reportable when the latest revised/current-to-proposed column changes a material row. | Proposed operating budgets move +$371.3M; the proposal comparative-cost row moves +$215. | Sea Girt BoroProposed comparative cost increase: +$5,688; MonmouthSalem County VocationalProposed comparative cost increase: +$5,552; SalemSandyston-Walpack TwpProposed comparative cost increase: +$5,001; SussexProposal briefProposal rows | Do not call nominal proposal movement an audited result or CPI-adjusted trend. |
| Category or source-row movementThe explanation layer behind totals. | Reportable when standardized pupil-cost rows, source families, or named UFB lines identify the part that moved. | Use standardized pupil-cost rows for comparable per-pupil claims, and broader source families or named rows for local explanation. | Support services+$413 real movement; latest average $4,359Bergen Co Special Service $25,005Mercer Co Special Services School District $22,745Classroom salaries and benefits-$286 real movement; latest average $12,404Mercer Co Special Services School District $52,427Bergen Co Special Service $49,245Support salaries and benefits+$277 real movement; latest average $3,485Bergen Co Special Service $22,213Mercer Co Special Services School District $21,718Category atlasSource rows | Do not add pupil-cost rows, source families, or named lines into one accounting schedule. |
| Who paysFunding mix and tax burden are related, not identical. | Reportable when operating revenue shares, tax levy, estimated rate, tax base, or fund-balance support changes the payer story. | Local operating revenue share moved -4 pts; state share moved +3 pts. Esttax rows cover 552 districts with plausible tax-rate context. | Cumberland Co VocationalState share rose as local share fell: +43 pts; CumberlandBogota BoroState share rose as local share fell: +23 pts; BergenWinfield TwpHigh estimated tax rate: 11.03; UnionFunding briefTax burden | Do not read General Fund operating mix as all-funds revenue or household tax-bill advice. |
| Student/service loadThe denominator can be the story. | Reportable when UFB planning on-roll, fall enrollment, placements, received students, or student-need context changes the comparison. | Service rows show 5% sent-placement load statewide; 575 latest rows join to fall enrollment. | Saddle River BoroPlacement-heavy planning load: 162%; BergenOaklyn BoroPlacement-heavy planning load: 80%; CamdenFairfield TwpUFB denominator above fall enrollment: 657%; CumberlandStudent loadMeasure guide | Do not silently replace NJDOE comparative cost with a different denominator. |
| One-time supportA recurrence question, not a deficit finding. | Reportable when budgeted fund balance, reserve withdrawal, or carryover rows materially support the proposal. | 328 districts meet the material one-time source-row screen, totaling $1.9B. | Long Beach IslandCapital reserve withdrawals: 42%; $6.3M total; largest row Capital reserve withdrawals at $6.0M; 3 source rowsWoodlynne BoroCapital reserve withdrawals: 31%; $7.1M total; largest row Capital reserve withdrawals at $4.0M; 3 source rowsTotowa BoroBudgeted fund balance: 27%; $7.4M total; largest row Budgeted fund balance at $7.4M; 1 source rowOne-time supportSource map | Do not call planned source rows audited cash stress, surplus, or recurring revenue. |
| Side-file exceptionLocal context that changes the first read. | Reportable when unusual-item, shared-service, resource-statement, tax, balance, or selected salary rows point to records or interviews. | Unusual rows total $918.8M; shared-service rows total 4,931. | Cape May PointHigh balance-to-budget cushion: 324%; Cape MayTeaneck TwpHigh unusual-item scale: $400.0M; BergenPaterson CityPublishes school-resource statements: $16.1M; PassaicSide filesReporting leads | Do not use side files as audited fiscal schedules, complete payroll, or replacement spending totals. |
This is an editorial triage layer, not a replacement for the data. Each row points to the proof surfaces and blocks a common shortcut before the explorer opens.
Budget language key
Use these terms before reading any rank, trend, category, source-row, or side-file claim. The budget pages compare several evidence bases; the label tells which one is being used.
| Term | Use it for | Do not read it as |
|---|---|---|
| Comparative cost | NJDOE's published per-pupil cost line for comparing districts. | A recomputed total-budget-divided-by-enrollment number, a quality rating, or proof that spending is high or low for the same reason everywhere. |
| UFB on-roll | The planning-enrollment denominator inside the User-Friendly Budget. | Fall enrollment, a head-count audit, or the only denominator that can matter for per-student claims. |
| Real dollars | Dollar movement converted to 2025 dollars with CPI-U when the page says real or inflation-adjusted. | The same thing as latest-file proposal changes, which are nominal revised/current-to-proposed budget columns. |
| Operating basis | General Fund operating budget or operating revenue, depending on the measure named in the row. | All-funds revenue, audited financial-statement revenue, or a property-tax bill. |
| Source rows and families | Named UFB revenue and appropriation lines, plus reader-facing groups that make row-level evidence searchable. | An additive accounting schedule; rows can be nested, repeated, or outside the operating budget. |
| Side files | Tax-rate, balance, unusual-item, shared-service, school-resource, and selected administrative-salary context. | Complete payroll, audited savings, spendable cash, recurring revenue, or tax-bill advice. |
| Peer and slice frames | County peers, statewide ranks, budget-model clusters, scale groups, and category slices that test whether a number is unusual for the comparison. | Causal peers, targets, or judgments that a district should match a different district's budget. |
This key is an orientation layer for the generated budget report. It does not replace the measure guide; it keeps the most common bases visible before the reader reaches the long evidence tables.
What the budget evidence says first
These generated findings are the front door to the long explorer. They surface the statewide budget story, the fair-comparison checks, and the caveats before the reader starts filtering districts.
The headline is not simply that budgets rose. From 2019-20 to 2025-26, statewide operating budget per UFB on-roll rose +$1,116 after inflation, while the mean published comparative-cost line moved +$304. The reportable story is the mix shift, the named rows that moved, and which peer groups make a district look unusual.
The real-dollar increases since 2019-20 are +$1,116 per UFB on-roll and +$304 on NJDOE's comparative-cost line. Standardized pupil-cost movers: Support services +$413; Support salaries and benefits +$277; Operations and maintenance +$168.
Open pupil-cost categoriesUFB planning on-roll changes 21,220; largest proposed cost increases include Sea Girt Boro, Salem County Vocational, Sandyston-Walpack Twp, while tax-levy increases include Jersey City, Toms River Regional, Old Bridge Twp.
Open proposal changesEqualization Aid +$896.4M; Categorical Special Education Aid +$580.4M; Adjustment Aid -$540.2M; Total Tax Levy -$442.5M.
Open funding shiftsLarge-base districts such as Cape May City, Deal Boro, West Cape May Boro can pair low estimated rates with high levy per UFB on-roll.
Open tax contextCapital reserve is $2.0B; unrestricted general operating balance is $780.4M; high-cushion examples include Cape May Point, North Hanover Twp, Union County Vocational. Separately, 328 districts meet the one-time source-row screen, totaling $1.9B; examples include Long Beach Island, Woodlynne Boro, Totowa Boro.
Open balance contextPlacement-load examples include Saddle River Boro, Oaklyn Boro, Waterford Twp; receiving-district examples include Educational Services Commission of New Jersey, Morris-Union Jointure Com, Northern Region Educational Services Commission.
Open service loadThe matched denominator gap is 84,790 (7%); free/reduced-price lunch is 41%, multilingual learners 11%. Denominator-gap examples include Fairfield Twp, Camden City, Asbury Park City; high-need examples include Passaic City, Lakewood Twp, Union City.
Open fall enrollmentHighest listed-role examples include Harrison Town, Bergen County Vocational, Newark City; school-resource statement examples include Newark City, Jersey City, Elizabeth City.
Open leadership/resourcesLarge unusual-row examples include Teaneck Twp, Lakewood Twp, Mount Laurel Twp; reported shared-saving examples include Southern Regional, Mount Laurel Twp, Ocean Twp.
Open unusual/shared contextTotal Undistributed Expenditures-Student Transportation Services +$442.4M; Transfer of Funds to Charter Schools +$390.7M; Total Capital Outlay +$432.2M; Total Preschool Education Aid +$446.6M; Total State Projects +$451.7M.
Open family trendsBergen has the widest within-county spread, $85,974, so a district's rank needs local context.
Compare counties and slices11 districts put at least 10% of operating-budget scale into charter/Renaissance transfers; 30 put at least 25% into school-based budgeting rows.
Use the slice filtersUnusual-item rows total $918.8M absolute source-row dollars, but they can duplicate budget rows elsewhere.
Search side filesMoney is in 2025 dollars where this page says real or inflation-adjusted. UFB years mix actual, revised, original, and proposed budget bases; contextual revenue and appropriation rows can be nested, so the named-line layer is a lead sheet rather than one additive bridge.
Budget questions
Start with the question, then use the matching evidence surface. These routes keep cost position, inflation, categories, funding, students, side files, and named source rows from collapsing into one generic spending story.
Open the budget issue brief library, trace the source map, browse county briefs, scan district first reads, understand the measures, compare budget models, build storylines, browse the generated reporting leads, read the category atlas, or choose comparison frames. These static shareable pages are generated from the same UFB rows as this explorer. They put the main evidence tables, district examples, source files, and caveats on one question at a time before the longer interactive index below.
Routes are generated from the same statewide UFB rows as the explorer below. They are a reading order, not a claim that one route explains every district.
What can explain a budget number?
This matrix turns the separate UFB layers into reporting routes. Each row keeps the possible explanation, district examples, next evidence surface, and counter-reading together before the reader sorts the long table.
| Explanation bundle | Districts | Evidence | Example districts | Counter-reading | Open |
|---|
Bundles overlap. They are generated reporting routes, not exclusive district labels or claims that the site has identified cause. Use them to decide which comparison frame, category table, denominator check, tax basis, reserve row, or side file belongs beside a cost claim.
Budget story clusters
A district can be expensive for different reasons. These generated clusters group districts by funding model, cost position, operating-use pressure, UFB planning enrollment, student-load signals, and outside-operating scale so the comparison starts with the right peer question.
| Story cluster | Districts | Cost context | Funding model | Budget signals | Examples | How to read it |
|---|
Clusters can overlap. Their job is to route a reader to a fair comparison group, not to classify every district into one exclusive type. Funding and category shares use proposed operating budget as the denominator unless noted; outside-operating rows use operating budget only as a scale reference.
Statewide trend after inflation
The latest-year table is only one view. This trend layer aggregates every loaded UFB year, converts statewide dollar measures to 2025 dollars, and keeps operating revenue and high-level use shares on the same proposed operating-budget denominator.
| Measure | First loaded year | Latest year | Change | How to read it |
|---|
| Budget year | Operating budget | Per UFB on-roll | Mean comparative cost | Operating revenue mix | High-level use mix | Outside operating scale |
|---|
The trend rows aggregate published UFB district rows for each loaded year. Dollar values are converted to 2025 dollars with CPI-U. Bar labels repeat the segment values in text: operating revenue is local, state, federal, other; high-level use is general current, transfers, school-based budgeting, capital outlay, and special schools. UFB budget-year files mix actual-cost, original/revised-budget, and proposed-budget bases, so this is a structural reporting view rather than an audited year-over-year bridge.
What changed in the current proposal?
The latest UFB file carries a revised/current-budget column and a proposed-budget column. This layer compares those two columns directly, so readers can see what the current proposal changes before they read long-run trends or raw line tables.
| Proposal measure | Revised/current | Proposed | Change | How to read it | Largest district examples |
|---|
Named proposal source rows
Totals show the scale of the proposal shift; named UFB rows show the reporting leads behind it. These rows compare the same latest-file revised/current and proposed columns before any long-run inflation trend is interpreted.
| UFB source row | Revised/current | Proposed | Change | Largest district examples | How to read it |
|---|
| District | Published cost line | Operating / on-roll | Revenue driver | Use driver | Report |
|---|
This section compares the latest UFB revised/current-budget column with the proposed budget-year column. Dollars are nominal latest-file dollars, not inflation-adjusted trend dollars. Comparative cost per pupil is NJDOE's published row; the explorer does not recompute it from total spending and enrollment. High-level revenue and use rows can overlap with more detailed source rows, so this is a proposal-change screen rather than an additive accounting bridge.
Budget families over time
The UFB source rows can be grouped into reader-facing families: state aid, local taxes, instruction, benefits, transportation, transfers, preschool, capital/debt, and other program blocks. This layer tracks those families across loaded years in 2025 dollars, so category movement is visible before the raw named-line index.
| Budget family | Latest source-row scale | Real movement | Loaded-year path | Largest line / examples | How to read it |
|---|
Families are source-row reporting lenses, not accounting schedules. They can contain nested rows, revenue and appropriation rows, or outside-operating rows; operating-budget scale is used only as a common comparison denominator. Do not sum families into one total.
What explains per-student change?
A per-student budget line can rise because real operating dollars grew, because UFB on-roll planning enrollment fell, or because both moved. This layer decomposes operating budget per UFB on-roll from the first loaded UFB year to 2025-26 in 2025 dollars, then keeps funding and use shifts next to the arithmetic.
| District | Per-student movement | Budget numerator | Enrollment denominator | Funding / use shifts | Report |
|---|
This is an arithmetic decomposition, not a causal model: spending effect holds first-year UFB on-roll constant, and enrollment effect then moves from first-year to latest-year UFB on-roll. UFB planning enrollment can differ from fall enrollment on district profiles; use the generated district budget report for source rows behind each case.
Which students is the budget serving?
Per-student costs depend on the UFB planning denominator and on which students a district budgets to serve, send, or receive. This layer turns the budget-enrollment file into a service-load screen: on-roll denominator, special-education on-roll, sent placements, contract preschool, received students, state-facility rows, and denominator movement.
| Budget-enrollment row | Latest count | First-to-latest movement | Loaded-year path | Largest district examples |
|---|
| District | UFB on-roll denominator | Special education | Sent placements | Received / net flow | Report |
|---|
Budget-enrollment rows are UFB planning rows, not fall enrollment counts. Shares in this section use the UFB on-roll denominator in the local warehouse summary, while the category counts come from the UFB enrollment file. Sent and received rows can overlap with tuition, transportation, special-services, preschool, and receiving-district revenue questions; use the district report for source rows.
What does fall enrollment change about the comparison?
UFB on-roll is the budget-planning denominator. Fall enrollment is the profile denominator. This layer puts them side by side and adds student-need context from the same-year district enrollment table before readers treat per-pupil budget comparisons as one simple ranking.
| Fall-enrollment measure | Statewide value | How to read it | Largest district examples |
|---|
| District | UFB vs fall enrollment | Need context | Cost / funding | How to read it | Report |
|---|
Fall enrollment comes from the NJDOE district enrollment table for the same school year as the latest UFB row. It is not the denominator for NJDOE's published comparative-cost line and should not replace UFB on-roll in budget formulas; it is a context check for coverage, student need, and per-student interpretation.
Who is listed in leadership and resource side files?
The UFB side files include selected administrative salary rows with base pay, add-on compensation fields, benefits, workday and leave terms, payout/buyback text, and, for districts that publish them, school-resource statement rows. This layer separates those side-file signals before readers search raw rows or compare them with pupil-cost salary lines.
| Listed role group | Statewide listed base | Rows / districts | Individual base range | Largest row examples |
|---|
| Listed component or term | Rows / districts | Statewide value | Distribution | Largest examples / terms |
|---|
| School-resource statement row | Latest amount | Districts | Largest district examples |
|---|
| District | Listed admin salary | Highest listed role | Shared / role mix | Components / terms | School-resource statement | Report |
|---|
Administrative salary rows are selected UFB-listed roles with district-reported FTE, shared-service, allowance, bonus, stipend, insurance, retirement-plan, post-employment, leave-term, buyback, comment, and remuneration fields; they are not full payroll and should not be added to pupil-cost salary rows. Component dollars are nominal latest-file side-file entries, text terms are not normalized dollars, and large or unusual rows are reporting leads that need contracts, board documents, or local payroll context. School-resource statement rows appear only where districts publish the `schapp` side file, and amount_3 is used as the latest loaded value.
Which pupil-cost categories moved?
NJDOE's pupil-cost file standardizes categories such as classroom instruction, support services, operations, administration, legal, equipment, and extracurricular costs. This layer shows which categories changed after inflation and which districts sit at the top of each distribution before readers open nested appropriation rows.
| Pupil-cost category | Latest average | Real movement | District spread | Top district examples |
|---|
| District | Category cost | Share of comparative cost | Total comparative cost | Report |
|---|
Pupil-cost rows are NJDOE standardized comparative-cost categories. Dollar movement uses each loaded budget year's proposed pupil-cost column converted to 2025 dollars with CPI-U. Several rows are subcomponents of broader totals, so this is an anatomy and comparison screen, not an additive bridge.
Who paid differently?
The operating budget can shift toward state aid, local revenue, federal revenue, or other/fund-balance sources. This layer compares each district's first loaded UFB year with 2025-26 and shows the funding model shift before the reader reaches individual revenue line items.
| District | Latest operating mix | Local / tax shift | State shift | Other / federal shift | Report |
|---|
Funding shares are General Fund operating revenue divided by proposed operating budget. Other operating revenue includes fund-balance and other local rows where loaded; this table is a funding-model screen, not an all-funds revenue statement.
What does local tax effort look like?
Local tax pressure is not one thing: a district can have a high estimated rate, a high levy per budgeted student, or a large tax base that changes how the levy reads. This layer turns the latest UFB estimated-tax side file into a statewide context screen before readers open district reports.
| Tax basis | Statewide value | Rows / districts | Distribution | Largest examples / dates |
|---|
| District | Estimated rate | Levy basis | Tax base | Municipal slices | Report |
|---|
Estimated tax rates come from the UFB esttax side file and are shown per $100 of valuation. The statewide context drops implausible rate rows, preserves regional/municipal slices where published, and separates operating-summary tax levy from esttax General Fund and total-school levy basis. Taxable and equalized valuation dates are source-basis context, not tax-bill advice or audited assessment data.
What cushion sits outside operating spending?
The UFB recapitulation file reports estimated close-year balances: unrestricted general operating balance, capital reserve, maintenance reserve, legal reserve, unemployment fund, emergency reserve, impact-aid reserves, and other restricted rows. This layer compares that cushion across districts without treating it as current spending.
| Balance / reserve category | Latest close-year balance | Real movement | Loaded-year path | Largest district examples |
|---|
| District | Close-year balance | Real movement | Largest category | Balance structure | Report |
|---|
Recap amount_4 is the estimated balance at the close of the budget year. These balances can be restricted, committed to capital or maintenance, or tied to other purposes; they are reader context for fiscal cushion and planned use, not operating appropriations or a claim about spendable cash. Small and special-service districts can dominate ratio views, so read share, dollars, per-UFB-on-roll values, and the largest category together.
Real movement by comparison group
The statewide trend is the baseline. This layer asks whether counties, funding models, district scale groups, cost bands, and category-signal slices moved differently after inflation, then lets each row drive the district table.
| Comparison group | District rows | Published cost | Operating per UFB on-roll | Funding shift | Use / outside scale shift | Largest district movements |
|---|
What changed by named budget line
The trend table says how the statewide budget moved; this layer asks which contextual revenue and appropriation rows moved with it. Amounts are compared from the first loaded UFB year to 2025-26 in 2025 dollars, then scaled against the statewide operating budget so large grants, transfers, benefits, debt, and capital rows can be read side by side.
| UFB row | First loaded year | Latest year | Real change | Operating scale shift | Largest district movements |
|---|
Change drivers are contextual source rows from the revenue and appropriation files after dropping outer totals and deduct rows. Rows can be nested or move between UFB labels, so this is a reporting lead sheet, not a complete additive bridge from one statewide total to another.
Compare budget slices
The fastest way to avoid shallow rankings is to compare slices: counties, funding models, district scale, cost position, and category signals. Each slice can drive the district table below so the statewide summary and the individual rows stay connected.
| Slice | Districts | Cost | Real movement | Funding | Categories / load | Examples |
|---|
Category scanner
This scanner shows the budget dimensions that can explain differences: revenue sources, operating-use rows, nested cost rows, outside-operating scale, student-load rows, and tax context. It is a comparison surface, not a claim that every row adds into one total.
| Measure | Statewide value | District distribution | Largest district examples | Basis |
|---|
Explore UFB side files
The extra UFB files are where districts explain balances, unusual rows, tax-rate slices, shared-service arrangements, school-based resource statements, and selected administrative salary rows. This layer makes those side files searchable statewide without treating them as one additive budget total.
| Side-file row | District | Value | Operating scale | Source context |
|---|
Side-file values are reader context, not replacement totals. Recap balances are projected balances, unusual-item dollars can duplicate source rows elsewhere, tax-rate rows can be municipality slices, shared-service savings are optional district-reported fields, school-resource statements apply only where districts publish them, and administrative salary rows are selected listed roles rather than full payroll.
Story leads
Reporting leads
The table below can sort hundreds of rows, but these generated leads identify the bigger reporting questions first: outlier costs, real-dollar movement, funding model, spending structure, student load, tax context, and side-file explanations.
Named UFB line leads
The budget files also contain named revenue and appropriation rows. This sheet scans those rows statewide so readers can see which line items are large, concentrated in a few districts, or common but uneven before opening a district report.
Search named UFB lines
Look up contextual UFB revenue and appropriation rows by label, file, or line number. The index shows how often each row appears, how large it is statewide, how widely district shares vary, and which districts report the largest operating-budget-equivalent shares.
| UFB row | Districts | Statewide scale | Typical / spread | Largest district examples |
|---|
This index uses contextual positive latest-year UFB source rows after dropping outer totals and deduct rows; duplicate operating-tax-levy variants are merged. Amounts are source-row dollars and can be nested, so rows should not be added together. Share measures use proposed operating budget only as a common scale reference.
Find districts
| District | Cost | Real change | Funding mix | Spending structure | Students/tax | Side files |
|---|
County context
Comparative cost per pupil is NJDOE's published measure; this explorer does not recompute it from total budget divided by enrollment. Revenue and spending shares use the proposed operating budget as the denominator unless a row says otherwise. UFB planning enrollment can differ from fall enrollment on district profiles. District links open generated budget reports where the UFB district row matches a published profile.