In 2025-26, Elizabeth proposed a $676.4 million General Fund operating budget.
Operating revenue
Local sources$63.9 million 9%
State sources$601.4 million 89%
Federal sources$200,743 <1%
Fund balance / other$10.9 million 2%
Operating spending
Instruction and day-to-day operations$343.7 million 51%
School-level allocations$329.6 million 49%
Charter and Renaissance transfers$1.8 million <1%
Buildings, equipment, and other capital costs$1.3 million <1%
Special schools$33,000 <1%
These are proposed NJDOE User-Friendly Budget planning rows—not audited actuals, household tax bills, or all-funds totals.
Budget front brief
For Elizabeth, the first budget read is a spending/category family story: +46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; comparative cost is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average.
Spending/category family+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis. Do not overread: Budget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.Check Category evidence
Cost vs peersNJDOE’s published comparative-cost line is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average; local rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts. Statewide rank: 223 of 566.Peer evidence
Who paysState sources supply 89% of proposed General Fund operating revenue (the recurring operating fund, not all funds), 58 pts above the Union County average. This is not a tax bill.Revenue families
What is newsSpending/category family+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be neste...Category evidence
What is backgroundNominal growthNominal operating budget moved +$191,486,135 from 2019-20 to 2025-26. The report tests that against CPI-U and UFB on-roll: real operating budget per planning student moved +$2,729.Trends and inflation
What to verifyReporting checkAppropriation account detail behind the large category. Ask which program, contract, staffing pattern, or pass-through sits inside the category.Spending categories
Loaded UFB rows use 2025-26 unless a section names another frame; the map routes proposal, peer, inflation, category, student, side-file, and source-row proof.
Budget essentials
For Elizabeth, these are the UFB-backed answers a resident needs before reading the line tables: the first story route, fair comparison, current proposal, payer mix, category signal, inflation trend, student denominator, and side-file context.
source family
What is the budget story to test first?
+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.
Which spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years?
Proof route: Category evidence.
Budget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
Is this district high, low, or typical against fair peers?
Comparative cost per pupil is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average; local rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts. Statewide rank 223 of 566.
Peer denominator: Union County districts.
Use dot spacing and named peer context before treating the rank as meaningful.
A cost rank is not an efficiency, adequacy, quality, or waste finding.
Side-file and outside-operating rows can be restricted, one-time, projected, or contextual; they are not recurring General Fund spending by themselves.
Each answer names its comparison, time basis, fund scope, or denominator. The limits are as important as the figures: UFB can surface budget signals, but outside records still have to explain causes, choices, service quality, tax bills, and sustainability.
Peer position snapshot
Before the map, these strips show whether the opening cost, funding, and category signals are near the local pack or visibly apart from it. Gray dots are peer districts, the accent dot is this district, the dashed mark is the Union County average, and the short solid tick is the peer median.
Each strip has its own unit and scale; higher is not automatically better or worse. Use the rank as order, then use dot spacing to judge whether the rank reflects a meaningful spread or a tight cluster.
How to read this report
Budget language key
Use these terms before reading any rank, trend, category, source-row, or side-file claim. The report compares 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 report 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.
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 statewide measure guide; it keeps the most common bases visible before the long evidence tables.
Budget thesis and reporting order
What is this budget story here?
Categories and source rows. Categories and named rows are the first explanation layer. Largest high-level use is general current expense, 51% of operating budget; operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average. Treat ordinary nominal spending growth as background unless a peer or slice comparison, category/source row, proposal movement, CPI-adjusted trend, denominator, tax signal, or outside record makes it news.
1Compare firstRead cost relative to peers and slices.NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average; local rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts. Statewide rank is 223 of 566.Check peer and slice evidence
2Find the explanation layerCategories and named rows are the first explanation layer.Largest high-level use is general current expense, 51% of operating budget; operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.Check categories and source rows
3Use inflation as a guardrailA simple spending-went-up frame is weak.Operating scale changed +$65,750,419 in 2025 dollars from 2019-20 to 2025-26; comparative cost changed +$2,203 after inflation; UFB planning on-roll changed -480.Check inflation and denominator evidence
4Report beyond UFBWhich spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years?Identify the program, account, contract, staffing pattern, transfer, or restriction behind the family before writing the operational reason.Check Category evidence
What the numbers support now
Start here before writing from a single cost rank.
Categories and source rowsCategories and named rows are the first explanation layer. Largest high-level use is general current expense, 51% of operating budget; operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.This is where the report moves from one cost number to the spending categories and source rows that are actually distinctive.Check categories and source rows
Fair comparisonRead cost relative to peers and slices. NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average; local rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts. Statewide rank is 223 of 566.The cost number becomes useful only after the report tests local peers, statewide rows, and overlapping budget-model slices.Check peer and slice evidence
Who paysFunding model changes the meaning of the same cost figure. State sources supply 89% of operating revenue, 58 pts above the Union County average. Tax levy per UFB on-roll is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average.A locally funded, state-funded, federally supported, or balance-supported budget can have the same per-pupil cost for different reasons.Check revenue families
Current decisionSeparate the live proposal from long-run trend. Latest proposal changes operating budget -$10,845,408; largest named proposal movement is Special Revenue Funds at -$21,397,529.The proposal rows are nominal latest-file changes; they should not be mixed with CPI-adjusted long-run movement.Check proposal changes
What changes the interpretation
Use these rows to keep inflation, denominator, and service-load context attached to the claim.
Not the story by itselfA simple spending-went-up frame is weak. Operating scale changed +$65,750,419 in 2025 dollars from 2019-20 to 2025-26; comparative cost changed +$2,203 after inflation; UFB planning on-roll changed -480.Use the inflation and denominator evidence as background before claiming a district-specific budget story.Check inflation and denominator evidence
Students and servicesThe denominator can change the per-pupil read. Budgeted out-of-district placements are 4% of UFB on-roll, 3 pts below the Union County average; Special-education planning share is 11%, 7 pts below the Union County average.Fall enrollment, UFB planning enrollment, placements, and service-load rows should travel with any per-student cost claim.Check costs and students
What still needs reporting
UFB identifies the question; these checks name what has to be verified outside the source file.
Spending/category familyWhich spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years? Identify the program, account, contract, staffing pattern, transfer, or restriction behind the family before writing the operational reason.Budget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.Check Category evidence
Funding modelWho pays for the operating budget, and is that funding mix typical for local peers? Read aid notices, budget-hearing materials, and board minutes to separate formula aid, one-time support, reserve use, and local decisions.Operating revenue is General Fund operating revenue, not all-funds revenue or a tax-bill calculation.Check Revenue families
Tax effortHow does local tax effort compare once levy per planning student, estimated rate, and tax base are separated? Use municipal tax-bill, equalized-value, and rate documents to translate UFB levy/rate context into what local taxpayers actually experience.Estimated tax-rate side-file rows are context; they are not audited property-tax bills.Check Tax context
This thesis is generated from published UFB rows, CPI-adjusted history where available, local/state comparison sets, and the report’s strongest signal scan. It is a reporting order, not a causal model or a replacement for board records, contracts, tax files, staffing context, and audited financials.
Budget reporting notebook
This notebook turns the ranked UFB leads into a document trail: the signal in this report, the outside records to pull, the interviews or checks to run, and the unsupported reading to block before writing from the numbers.
Lead
UFB signal
Records to pull
Interviews / checks
Unsupported read to block
1Spending/category familyWhich spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years?Category evidence
source family+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.
Budget book, board packet, and account detail behind the linked proof section.
Audit note or outside schedule if the row is restricted or one-time.
Relevant contract, grant, tax, or staffing document.
Ask which local decision, outside requirement, or accounting rule produced the signal.
Check the linked proof section against external records before writing causality.
Budget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
2Funding modelWho pays for the operating budget, and is that funding mix typical for local peers?Revenue families
89%The largest operating revenue source is state sources, 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average.
State-aid notices and aid-calculation summary.
Budget-book revenue schedule and levy-cap worksheet.
Board minutes or resolutions for fund-balance and reserve use.
Ask what share is formula aid, levy, reserve use, or one-time support.
Compare the explanation with state notices and board approvals.
Operating revenue is General Fund operating revenue, not all-funds revenue or a tax-bill calculation.
3Tax effortHow does local tax effort compare once levy per planning student, estimated rate, and tax base are separated?Tax context
$2,145Tax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; local rank 21 of 21.
Estimated tax-rate worksheet and municipal rate or bill tables.
Equalized and taxable valuation notices.
Levy-cap worksheet and budget-hearing presentation.
Ask finance officials how equalized value and rate rows translate to local bills.
Check municipal or regional slices before attributing burden to school spending.
Estimated tax-rate side-file rows are context; they are not audited property-tax bills.
4Pupil-cost lineWhich NJDOE standardized per-pupil row is furthest from the local peer average?Pupil-cost rows
$3,688Operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.
Pupil-cost support schedule behind the standardized row.
Staffing roster, benefits rates, facilities, or program budget pages.
Contracts or purchased-service detail for the category.
Ask which staffing, benefits, facilities, or program records feed the standardized row.
Check whether the line is a component, subtotal, or comparison-only measure.
Several pupil-cost rows are components of broader totals, not an additive bridge.
5Spending mixWhich operating-use category makes the district unlike its peers?Spending categories
7%Employee benefits share is 7%, 10 pts below the Union County average; local rank 23 of 23.
Appropriation account detail behind the large category.
Program, contract, transfer, or staffing schedules tied to the row.
Budget amendments and board agenda items around the change.
Ask which program, contract, staffing pattern, or pass-through sits inside the category.
Check whether the category is recurring, restricted, or an accounting structure.
High-level use shares share one denominator, but lower-level UFB rows can overlap and should not be summed.
6Cost positionDoes the cost rank still make sense after funding model, scale, placements, and outside-operating rows are considered?Peer evidence
$23,126NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126 per pupil, rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts, $2,402 above the Union County average.
Adopted budget book and UFB narrative.
Audit or ACFR schedules, staffing pages, and program descriptions.
Budget presentations for the local peers used in the comparison.
Ask the business administrator which obligations make the peer set fair or unfair.
Check whether grade span, placements, facilities, or transfers move with the cost.
NJDOE comparative cost is the publisher’s metric; this is a comparison lead, not a judgment or a recomputed cost.
The records and checks are reporting targets, not files contained in the UFB release. They are generated from the same signal ranking as the lead sheet so the report stays anchored in source evidence while making the next journalism step explicit.
Budget machine
Why this budget behaves this way
The budget story for Elizabeth starts with cost engine; who pays; cost position. This panel extracts the basic resident-facing read from UFB before the report opens the long proof sections.
Relative costCost position
Claim
Published comparative cost is $2,402 above the Union County average.
Evidence
$23,126; +$2,402 versus Union County average; rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts. Statewide, it is $465 below the NJ average; rank 223 of 566.
Why it matters
Start here so a budget story is about position against a fair comparison, not just the fact that spending rose.
Do not write
Comparative cost is NJDOE’s published line. It is not a quality rating, efficiency score, or tax-bill estimate.
State sources are the largest operating-revenue source, at 89% of proposed General Fund operating revenue.
Evidence
$601.4 million; 89% of operating budget; 58 pts above the Union County average. After inflation, state sources moved +$87,873,845 from 2019-20 to 2025-26. Local sources are 9% and moved -$13,548,402 after inflation over the same span.
Why it matters
This names the revenue machine behind the cost comparison: a local-tax district, state-aid district, grant-heavy district, and fund-balance-supported district have different budget stories.
Do not write
Revenue mix is not an all-funds view, not a household tax bill, and not proof of what the district buys.
The strongest recurring-use signals are school-based budgeting, instruction programs.
Evidence
School-based budgeting: 50% of operating-budget scale, +$5,464,502 after inflation, +46 pts versus Union County average, largest row: General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting. Instruction programs: 9% of operating-budget scale, +$12,463,183 after inflation, -20 pts versus Union County average, largest row: Total Regular Programs-Instruction.
Why it matters
This turns the broad spending total into named categories a resident can inspect: current scale, movement after inflation, and peer gap all matter.
Do not write
These families can be nested or contextual. They do not prove cuts, waste, staffing quality, or legal service obligations.
The live-year read depends on proposal, limited support, outside-operating rows.
Evidence
Latest proposal moves operating budget -$10,845,408 (-2%) from revised/current to proposed. Top named proposal row: Total Special Revenue Funds at -$21,397,529. Fund-balance, reserve, and carryover source rows total $12.0 million, 2% of operating-budget scale; largest is budgeted fund balance at $10.9 million.
Why it matters
This keeps current proposal movement, one-time support, and outside-operating rows separate from the long-run CPI-adjusted trend.
Do not write
Do not turn this into audited actual spending, a cut list, recurring revenue, or proof of fiscal distress without local records.
The machine read uses UFB summary, revenue, appropriation, pupil-cost, budget-enrollment, reserve, and side-file rows through 2025-26. Money trends use 2025 CPI-U dollars where labeled; proposal rows are nominal revised/current-to-proposed movement.
Budget squeeze explainer
What is actually putting pressure on the budget?
For Elizabeth, this panel connects the revenue model, recurring cost families, student denominator, current proposal, and local record checks before the report moves into the longer evidence sections.
local sources supply 9% of proposed operating revenue, 58 pts below the Union County average; state sources supply 89%; recurring local, state, and federal source summaries moved +$73,023,310 after inflation while operating scale moved +$65,750,419.
This is the first test for a cap-sensitive district: is the recurring operating revenue model keeping pace after inflation, and how dependent is the district on local sources?
Pull the levy-cap worksheet, state-aid notice, cap-bank/waiver rows, tax-base records, and budget presentation before writing a cap-exhaustion or underfunding claim.
School-based budgeting: 50% of operating-budget scale, +$5,464,502 after inflation, +46 pts versus Union County average, largest row: General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting; Instruction programs: 9% of operating-budget scale, +$12,463,183 after inflation, -20 pts versus Union County average, largest row: Total Regular Programs-Instruction; Preschool: 19% of operating-budget scale, -$30,457,108 after inflation, +10 pts versus Union County average, largest row: Total Preschool Education Aid; Special education and student supports: 8% of operating-budget scale, +$9,302,357 after inflation, -7 pts versus Union County average, largest row: Undistributed Expenditures–Other Support Services, Students–Extraordinary Services.
This turns the broad spending total into the first recurring categories to inspect. The story may be current scale, peer difference, real movement, or all three.
Pull staffing rosters, placement/tuition schedules, contracts, program schedules, and budget-book narratives before translating category rows into classroom, staffing, or service-impact claims.
real operating budget per UFB planning student moved +$2,729 from 2019-20 to 2025-26; UFB planning on-roll moved -480; special-education on-roll is 3,196 (11% of UFB on-roll); sent placements are 1,116 (4% of UFB on-roll).
This keeps the per-student story from becoming only a dollar story: the denominator, placements, and service-load rows can change the read.
Pull fall enrollment, special-education placement records, IEP/service-obligation context, tuition contracts, transportation records, and staffing schedules before explaining why the load changed.
latest proposal moves operating budget -$10,845,408 from revised/current to proposed; fund-balance, reserve, and carryover source rows total $12.0 million, 2% of operating-budget scale; largest row is budgeted fund balance at $10.9 million.
This separates the current budget vote and one-time support rows from the multi-year inflation-adjusted trend.
Pull the adopted budget book, audit, appropriation-of-surplus resolution, reserve schedules, and budget adoption minutes before calling this recurring revenue, audited cash stress, or a complete cut list.
Money movement uses 2025 CPI-U dollars where the row says after inflation. This is a reporting synthesis, not a deficit finding, tax-bill estimate, quality rating, or claim that a listed category caused a cut.
Budget evidence board
The four checks before writing the budget story
For Elizabeth, the useful budget read is a sequence: compare the published cost position, explain the category families, check inflation and denominator movement, then verify whether the live proposal continues or complicates that pattern.
Compare
$23,126; $2,402 above the Union County average.
Frame
District
Average
Gap
Rank
Union County districtsclosest local comparison frame
$23,126
$20,724
+$2,402
4 of 21
All NJ UFB districtsstatewide baseline before narrowing the frame
$23,126
$23,591
-$465
223 of 566
Mostly state-fundedsame funding model, so revenue dependence is not hidden by one rank
The board uses the latest UFB year for comparison rows, 2025 CPI-U dollars where it says real or after inflation, proposed operating budget as the category scale denominator, and nominal revised/current-to-proposed dollars for proposal rows. Source-family rows are contextual and can be nested, so this is a reporting map rather than an additive accounting schedule.
Budget operating model
The budget model in six reads
For Elizabeth, this is the compact operating model behind the long UFB report: scale, payers, uses, real movement, live proposal movement, and checks that can change the interpretation.
ScaleHow big is the operating budget?
$676.4 million
$676.4 million proposed General Fund operating budget; $24,258 per UFB planning student; $13,322 below the Union County average on operating budget per UFB planning student.
Use this as the recurring operating scale. It is not all funds, audited actual spending, or a household tax bill.
Main operating sources: state sources 89% ($601.4 million); local sources 9% ($63.9 million); fund balance / other sources 2% ($10.9 million); 58 pts above the Union County average.
Read this as General Fund operating revenue mix. Grants, debt service, capital funds, and tax-rate files sit on different bases.
Largest visible source families by operating-budget scale: School-based budgeting 50%; Special revenue funds 23%; Preschool 19%. Largest visible row: General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting.
Families are source-row groups, not an additive accounting schedule. Use them to decide which category proof section to open first.
real operating budget per UFB planning student moved +$2,729 from $21,529 to $24,258; operating-budget numerator moved +$65.8 million after CPI-U while UFB on-roll moved -480; top family movement: State aid +$71.3 million after inflation.
This is the guardrail against the generic nominal-spending-growth story: separate inflation, budget numerator, and UFB planning denominator before writing.
operating budget proposal moved -$10.8 million (-2%) from revised/current to proposed; largest visible increase: Equalization Aid +$19.4 million; largest visible decrease: Total Special Revenue Funds -$21.4 million.
These are nominal latest-file proposal rows. They should be read beside, not merged into, the CPI-adjusted history.
fund-balance, reserve, and carryover source rows total $12.0 million, 2% of operating scale; tax levy per UFB planning student is $12,236 below the Union County average; rank 21 of 21; special-education on-roll is 7 pts below the Union County average; rank 18 of 23.
Use these as follow-up checks before writing deficit, tax-bill, service-cut, adequacy, or efficiency claims from UFB alone.
The model uses 2025-26 UFB rows for the current read, 2025 CPI-U dollars where it says real or after inflation, proposed General Fund operating budget as the common scale where labeled, and Union County average for local peer comparisons where enough rows exist.
Budget answer sheet
This answer sheet gives the basic budget read for Elizabeth before the detailed report opens. It turns the current proposal, peer frame, funding model, spending uses, student/service load, inflation, and side files into direct questions a resident can answer from UFB evidence.
Question
Answer from UFB
How to read it
Proof
-$10.8Mproposal changeWhat changed in the current proposal?Live proposal
The live proposal changes the operating budget -$10,845,408 (-2%) versus the revised/current column.
This is the current budget-year decision point. Long-run charts later in the report convert history to real dollars, but this row is the latest file’s nominal proposal change.
$23,126comparative costIs the district high, low, or typical against a fair benchmark?Fair comparison
NJDOE comparative cost is $2,402 above the Union County average.
The ordinary per-pupil-spending line is only the starting point. The fair question is whether the district’s cost position fits its funding model, scale, placements, and outside-operating rows.
89%largest sourceWho pays for the operating budget?Who pays
State sources supplied the largest operating-revenue share, 58 pts above the Union County average.
Revenue mix is the policy frame behind the cost comparison: a locally funded district, a state-aid district, and a district using fund balance can show the same cost number for different reasons.
+46 ptsvs avgWhere does the operating budget go?What money buys
School-based budgeting is the strongest generated spending/category clue: 46 pts above the Union County average, 50% of operating-budget scale, +$5,464,502 after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26.
This keeps the report out of the generic spending-went-up narrative. The category and named-line sections show which uses are actually large, unusual, or moving.
11%UFB on-rollWhat student or service-load context changes the read?Students and services
special-education on-roll is 3,196 (11% of UFB on-roll).
Per-pupil comparisons move when the denominator or service load changes. This report keeps fall enrollment, UFB planning enrollment, placements, and student-need rows next to the cost evidence.
+$65,750,419real operating changeWhat changed across loaded UFB years after inflation?What changed after inflation
After inflation, operating-budget scale changed +$65,750,419 from 2019-20 to 2025-26.
This is the long-run context. It is deliberately separate from the latest proposal-column changes so ordinary nominal growth does not masquerade as the budget story.
$12.0 millionfund/reserve sourcesWhat else can change the budget story?Reserves and side files
Fund balance and reserve sources total $12.0 million.
These rows can explain a budget year without being recurring operating spending. The report keeps fund balance, reserves, recap balances, unusual explanations, shared services, salary rows, and school-resource statements outside additive totals.
The answer sheet is generated from published UFB rows and local/state comparison sets. It is an evidence map, not a causal model; dollar trend claims are inflation-adjusted only where the text says so, and proposal rows are nominal latest-file movement.
Budget explanation brief
What explains this budget first
State aid is the largest current family outside the broad current-expense total, at 96% of operating-budget scale. State aid has the widest local peer gap, +64 pts against the Union County average. State aid moved the most after inflation, +$71,277,679 across loaded UFB years.
Category, trend, and comparison scan
These are the source-row families where current scale, peer position, inflation-adjusted movement, or the latest proposal move most change the story.
State aidlarge now / peer gap / real movementEqualization Aid (Revenue line 460, $522,908,752)
Current scale
96%$652,082,434
Peer gap
+64 ptspeer avg 32%
Real movement
+$71,277,679+1 pt
Live proposal
-$2,408,4150 pts of operating scale
Special revenue fundslarge now / peer gap / real movementTotal Special Revenue Funds (Appropriation line 88760, $76,365,105)
Current scale
23%$152,730,210
Peer gap
+11 ptspeer avg 11%
Real movement
-$16,794,330-5 pts
Live proposal
-$42,795,058-6 pts of operating scale
School-based budgetinglarge now / peer gap / real movementGeneral Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting (Appropriation line 84020, $329,625,339)
Current scale
50%$338,625,335
Peer gap
+46 ptspeer avg 4%
Real movement
+$5,464,502-4 pts
Live proposal
+$2,965,3730 pts of operating scale
Local taxes and local sourceslarge now / peer gap / real movementTotal Tax Levy (Revenue line 100/114, $59,813,124)
Current scale
9%$62,420,963
Peer gap
-51 ptspeer avg 60%
Real movement
-$14,924,023-3 pts
Live proposal
+$1,490,0520 pts of operating scale
Preschoollarge now / peer gap / real movementTotal Preschool Education Aid (Appropriation line 87100, $49,290,331)
Current scale
19%$125,444,694
Peer gap
+10 ptspeer avg 9%
Real movement
-$30,457,108-7 pts
Live proposal
-$7,925,919-1 pt of operating scale
Bars are scaled separately within each scan column; use the printed values for exact cross-column comparisons.
Signal
Question
Evidence
Use and limit
Largest current familyState aid
Which aid lines explain dependence on state funding or first-to-latest movement?
$652,082,434 in latest source-row dollars; 96% of proposed operating-budget scale.Largest visible row: Equalization Aid (Revenue line 460, $522,908,752).
Start here for the part of the budget that has the most current scale before reading smaller line movers.Large does not mean unusual, efficient, inefficient, or recurring; the peer gap and source-row basis still have to be checked.CategoriesSource rows
Widest local peer gapState aid
Which aid lines explain dependence on state funding or first-to-latest movement?
96% locally versus 32% for the Union County average; gap +64 pts.The family sits above the local peer frame on the same operating-budget-equivalent denominator.
Use this as the clearest category clue that the district differs from nearby districts.A peer gap is not a cause, a quality rating, or proof of waste; it needs program, enrollment, tax, labor, and board-document context.Peer evidenceComparisonsCategories
Largest real movementState aid
Which aid lines explain dependence on state funding or first-to-latest movement?
+$71,277,679 from 2019-20 to 2025-26 after CPI-U adjustment to 2025 dollars.Operating-equivalent share changed +1 pt over the same loaded years.
Use this for the trend question, because it tests whether a category changed after inflation instead of repeating that nominal spending rises.This is not the latest proposal movement and can reflect row availability, program shifts, or denominator changes across loaded UFB years.TrendsCategoriesSource rows
Largest current proposal moveSpecial revenue funds
How large are grant-funded or otherwise outside-operating programs relative to operating budgets?
-$42,795,058 from revised/current to proposed in the latest UFB file.That equals -6 pts of proposed operating-budget scale.Largest named proposal row: Total Special Revenue Funds (-$21,397,529 current-to-proposed).
Use this for what the current budget file says is changing now, separate from the multi-year inflation-adjusted trend.Proposal movement is nominal and latest-file only; it is not audited actual spending and should not be added across nested rows.ProposalSource rows
This brief uses generated UFB source-row families as a reporting triage layer. Latest scale and peer gaps use proposed operating budget as a common denominator; real movement is converted to 2025 dollars with CPI-U; proposal movement is nominal revised/current-to-proposed movement in the latest UFB file. Families are contextual and can be nested, so this is not an additive budget schedule.
Budget story package
For Elizabeth, start with this budget question: Which spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years? The package keeps the UFB-supported claim, fair comparison, inflation/category/proposal checks, next reporting move, and blocked overread on the same row.
Package
What UFB shows
Compare / change
Report / block
Lead to testSpending/category familysource family
+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.Check: Category evidence
Compare againstUse the Union County average and the linked proof section as the first comparison, then verify the operational explanation outside UFB.What changes the readReaders can move from one total budget number to the family of rows that is large, unusual, or moving.
Report nextAppropriation account detail behind the large category. Ask which program, contract, staffing pattern, or pass-through sits inside the category.Do not writeBudget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
Fair comparisonCost position$23,126
NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126 per pupil, rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts, $2,402 above the Union County average.Check: Peer evidence
Compare againstStart with Union County districts and the Union County average; then test statewide, model, scale, student-service, and outside-operating frames before treating the rank as the story.What changes the readUse this to decide whether local peers, statewide slices, scale, funding model, service load, or source-row context is the fair comparison before quoting a rank.
Report nextAdopted budget book and UFB narrative. Ask the business administrator which obligations make the peer set fair or unfair.Do not writeNJDOE comparative cost is the publisher’s metric; this is a comparison lead, not a judgment or a recomputed cost.
Inflation testTrend and denominator2025 dollars
real operating budget per UFB planning student changed +$2,729 from 2019-20 to 2025-26; UFB planning enrollment changed -480; NJDOE comparative cost changed +$2,203 after inflation.Check: Inflation trends
Compare againstCompare this with the latest-year Union County average, the report map, and the trend section before calling growth the story.What changes the readThis separates nominal spending growth from real per-student movement, denominator change, and the latest proposal columns.
Report nextFirst and latest budget books and budget presentations. Ask which decisions changed between the first and latest loaded UFB years.Do not writeReal-dollar movement is long-run context; it is separate from the latest proposal-column decision.
Category explanationState aid96%
State aid: $652,082,434 latest source-row dollars, 96% of operating-budget scale; +64 pts versus the Union County average; +$71,277,679 after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26; -$2,408,415 latest proposal movement; largest visible row: Equalization Aid.Check: Category evidence
Compare againstCompare the same source-family share with the Union County average, then check category, peer, trend, proposal, and source-row sections.What changes the readThis is the category/slice evidence that can make a budget story specific; it is not a second total to add to the operating budget.
Report nextAppropriation account detail behind the large category. Ask which program, contract, staffing pattern, or pass-through sits inside the category.Do not writeBudget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
Live proposalAdjustment for Prior Year Encumbrances-$14,372,916
Adjustment for Prior Year Encumbrances changes -$14,372,916 from revised/current to proposed; -2 pts of operating-budget scale; same-row local peer average movement is -3 pts across 22 peers.Check: Proposal changes
Compare againstCompare the proposal package with the category map and trend bridge before calling it a pivot or continuation.What changes the readThis isolates the live budget decision from the broader real-dollar trend and from nested source-row totals.
Report nextAccount detail for the moving row in first and latest loaded years. Ask which formula, grant, transfer, contract, staffing, or accounting event moved the row.Do not writeProposal rows are nominal latest-file movement, not audited actual spending or a multi-year inflation-adjusted trend.
Second signalSpecial education planning11%
Special-education on-roll planning share is 11%, 7 pts below the Union County average.Check: Service load
Compare againstCompare special-education planning rows with local peers, then check service-plan, placement, and staffing records outside UFB.What changes the readCarry this beside the lead so per-pupil, tax, reserve, side-file, or outside-operating context is not left behind.
Report nextSpecial-education service-plan budget pages. Ask which service-load changes are driving the planning row.Do not writePlanning rows signal service load; they do not identify student need by themselves.
Story packages are generated from ranked UFB signals, 2025-dollar inflation checks, local peer and source-family comparisons, latest proposal rows, and side-file cues. They are an assignment path, not a causal finding, quality rating, or additive accounting schedule.
Budget mechanism read
This panel turns the budget evidence for Elizabeth into mechanisms: who pays; relative cost; category or slice are the first lanes to test before a reader writes from totals, ranks, or nominal growth.
Mechanism
District read
Proof already here
Report next
Block this overread
Opening frameRelative cost
Published comparative cost is $2,402 above the Union County average; rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts.
$23,126; +$2,402 versus Union County average. Peer evidence
Test whether funding model, service load, category rows, or side files make the cost position explainable.
A cost rank is not an efficiency, adequacy, quality, or taxpayer-impact finding.
In playWho pays
State sources supply 89% of proposed General Fund operating revenue; 58 pts above the Union County average. Tax levy per UFB on-roll is $12,236 below the Union County average.
Operating revenue source share from UFB summary rows. Tax: $2,145; rank 21 of 21. Revenue families
Ask whether the cost story is also a local-revenue, state-aid, grant, tax-base, or fund-balance story.
Funding mix is not a tax bill, adequacy judgment, or proof of what the district buys.
In playCategory or slice
+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.
Budget-family scan combines latest operating-equivalent scale, local peer gap, CPI-adjusted movement, proposal movement, and largest source-row clues. Category evidence
Report the named row or family before saying total spending is the story.
Budget families and source rows can be nested or contextual, so this is not an additive schedule or causal model.
Trend testInflation and denominator
After CPI-U adjustment, operating budget per UFB on-roll moved +$2,729 from 2019-20 to 2025-26; UFB on-roll moved -480.
$21,529 to $24,258 in 2025 dollars per UFB on-roll. Inflation trends
Separate real per-student movement from nominal budget growth and from the latest proposal column.
This is not a current-year cut list, audited actual spending, or proof that services changed.
In playStudents and services
special-education planning rows are 3,196 (11% of UFB on-roll); sent-placement rows are 1,116 (4% of UFB on-roll); operations and maintenance per pupil is $1,277 above the Union County average.
special-education planning rows: 3,196; sent-placement rows: 1,116; Operations and maintenance per pupil: rank 1 of 21. Students and costs
Ask whether per-pupil differences are a denominator, placement, service-load, or cost-row story.
Planning rows are not fall enrollment, service quality, compliance evidence, or student-need proof by themselves.
Live decisionProposal timing
operating budget moves -$10,845,408 from revised/current to proposed; -2% latest-file change; top named proposal row is Total Special Revenue Funds.
-$10.8M; -$21,397,529 in nominal latest-file dollars. Proposal changes
Ask whether the current proposal continues, offsets, or departs from the longer CPI-adjusted trend.
Proposal-column movement is not audited actual spending, long-run inflation movement, or a confirmed cut/addition list.
ContextOne-time support
fund-balance, reserve, and carryover source rows total $12.0 million; largest is budgeted fund balance at $10.9 million; projected close-year recap balances total $114.2 million.
Ask which support is recurring, restricted, already committed, or a one-year budget bridge.
Balance and reserve rows are planned-source or projected-balance context, not audited cash or structural-deficit proof.
CheckOutside operating and side files
all-funds net spending is $747.5 million, $71.0 million above the operating budget; shared-service file lists 2 arrangements; largest outside-operating row: special revenue funds at $76.4 million.
largest outside-operating row: special revenue funds at $76.4 million; selected administrative salary side file lists 24 rows. Budget anatomy
Ask whether grants, debt, capital, preschool, unusual items, shared services, or salary side files change the operating story.
Outside-operating and side-file rows are context; they are not recurring General Fund operating spending or audited savings.
Mechanisms are generated from UFB summary, revenue, appropriation, pupil-cost, budget-enrollment, tax, reserve, and side-file rows. Money trends use 2025 CPI-U dollars where labeled; proposal rows remain nominal latest-file movement.
Cost-position clues
NJDOE comparative cost puts this district above the Union County average. These clues name the concrete UFB measures, funding and tax signals, named rows, current-proposal movement, denominator checks, and budget-year context that can explain or complicate that position before the report moves into full evidence.
Clue
Evidence
How to read it
Proof
Headline metricNJDOE comparative cost
$23,126; +$2,402 vs Union County average; rank 4 of 21
This is the published cost-position metric. The rows below are the visible UFB clues to test before treating the rank as a story by itself.
Scale checkOperating budget per UFB on-roll student
$24,258; -$13,322 vs Union County average; rank 10 of 23
This recomputed operating-budget scale check uses UFB on-roll as the denominator; it can confirm or complicate NJDOE’s published comparative-cost line.
89%; +58 pts vs Union County average; rank 1 of 21
Funding mix explains who carries the operating budget. It can make the same cost position mean different things, but it does not show what the district buys.
operating budget -$10,845,408 from revised/current to proposed; -2% latest-file change; largest named proposal move: Special Revenue Funds at -$21,397,529
The proposal clue is the live nominal budget-year decision. It belongs beside the cost position, but it is separate from CPI-adjusted history and audited actual spending.
The clues use Union County districts with usable latest-year UFB rows unless noted. Proposal rows are nominal revised/current-to-proposed movement; trend rows use 2025 dollars where labeled. These are reporting leads, not a causal model and not a rating of spending quality.
Cost-position judgment
For Elizabeth, the cost-position read is above the Union County average. This ledger decides whether the visible UFB signals line up with that read, complicate it, or leave the explanation outside the budget files.
Judgment
Evidence
Reader take
Next check
Cost story
Comparative cost per pupil: $23,126 (+$2,402 vs Union County average; rank 4 of 21)
Treat the above-average cost position as the question to explain, not as proof of waste, adequacy, service level, or cause.
State operating revenue share: 89% (+58 pts vs Union County average; rank 1 of 21); Operations and maintenance per pupil: $3,688 (+$1,277 vs Union County average; rank 1 of 21); Classroom instruction per pupil: $13,452 (+$1,260 vs Union County average; rank 3 of 21).
These measures move in the same direction as the published cost position. They are clues to inspect, not a causal proof that any one row creates the cost gap.
Tax levy per UFB on-roll student: $2,145 (-$12,236 vs Union County average; rank 21 of 21); Local operating revenue share: 9% (-58 pts vs Union County average; rank 23 of 23).
These measures move against the simple cost read. Keep them visible before writing a one-note high-cost or low-cost story.
Equalization Aid: 77% of operating scale; +57 pts vs Union County average; rank 2 of 23.
A named UFB row can make the story concrete. It still may be nested, contextual, or outside the recurring operating basis, so it needs the source-row proof section.
+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.
This is the strongest generated source-family route. Use it to decide what to report next, not as an accounting total or causal model.
Budget book, board packet, and account detail behind the linked proof section. Ask which local decision, outside requirement, or accounting rule produced the signal.
UFB can rank and compare the signal, but it still does not prove cause, adequacy, intent, quality, or taxpayer impact. Budget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
The ledger uses Union County districts with usable latest-year UFB rows unless the row names another frame. It is a reporting synthesis, not an efficiency rating, adequacy claim, or causal model.
Budget report section
Start with the story
What is the short version, what can UFB prove, which signals deserve the first read, and which simple reads need a second signal?
What explains this budget
Spending/category family. +46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.
AskWhich spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years?Do not overreadBudget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.Check: Category evidence
89%Funding modelThe largest operating revenue source is state sources, 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average.AskWho pays for the operating budget, and is that funding mix typical for local peers?Do not overreadOperating revenue is General Fund operating revenue, not all-funds revenue or a tax-bill calculation.Check: Revenue families
$2,145Tax effortTax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; local rank 21 of 21.AskHow does local tax effort compare once levy per planning student, estimated rate, and tax base are separated?Do not overreadEstimated tax-rate side-file rows are context; they are not audited property-tax bills.Check: Tax context
$3,688Pupil-cost lineOperations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.AskWhich NJDOE standardized per-pupil row is furthest from the local peer average?Do not overreadSeveral pupil-cost rows are components of broader totals, not an additive bridge.Check: Pupil-cost rows
7%Spending mixEmployee benefits share is 7%, 10 pts below the Union County average; local rank 23 of 23.AskWhich operating-use category makes the district unlike its peers?Do not overreadHigh-level use shares share one denominator, but lower-level UFB rows can overlap and should not be summed.Check: Spending categories
$23,126Cost positionNJDOE comparative cost is $23,126 per pupil, rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts, $2,402 above the Union County average.AskDoes the cost rank still make sense after funding model, scale, placements, and outside-operating rows are considered?Do not overreadNJDOE comparative cost is the publisher’s metric; this is a comparison lead, not a judgment or a recomputed cost.Check: Peer evidence
These are generated reporting leads ranked from the latest UFB row scans, county comparisons, planning-enrollment rows, and real-dollar trend checks. The question and counter-reading keep each lead from becoming a causal claim before the full report evidence is checked.
Budget reading memo
The useful budget read for Elizabeth is not a single spending-up sentence or a lone rank. Test this question first: Which spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years? +46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million.
Do not stop at the simple read
NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average; local rank 4 of 21. After inflation, operating budget per UFB planning student changed +$2,729 from 2019-20 to 2025-26; UFB planning enrollment changed -480. The latest UFB proposal column changes the operating budget -$10,845,408 from revised/current to proposed. Those facts matter, but they should travel with the spending/category family question instead of becoming the whole story.
The largest operating revenue source is state sources, 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average.
Readers can separate a budget that is locally funded, state-aid driven, federally supported, or temporarily balanced by reserves before judging the same cost number.
Operating revenue is General Fund operating revenue, not all-funds revenue or a tax-bill calculation.
Operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.
Readers can choose which standardized cost category deserves staffing, benefits, facilities, or program follow-up.
Several pupil-cost rows are components of broader totals, not an additive bridge.
This memo is generated from ranked UFB signals, local peer context, loaded-year inflation checks, proposal columns, and side-file evidence. It is an editorial route through the evidence, not a causal finding; Budget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
Question-to-reporting path
The first resident question for Elizabeth is Which spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years? This path keeps the strongest UFB clues beside the first fair comparison, the records to pull, and the shortcut to block before writing.
Reader question
UFB clue
First comparison
Reporting move
Spending/category familyWhich spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years?
+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.Contextual revenue and appropriation families, current scale, peer gap, proposal movement, and real-dollar movement.
Use the Union County average and the linked proof section as the first comparison, then verify the operational explanation outside UFB.Check: Category evidence
Pull or ask
Budget book, board packet, and account detail behind the linked proof section.
Audit note or outside schedule if the row is restricted or one-time.
Ask which local decision, outside requirement, or accounting rule produced the signal.
Do not write yetBudget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
Funding modelWho pays for the operating budget, and is that funding mix typical for local peers?
The largest operating revenue source is state sources, 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average.Latest General Fund operating revenue summary, operating-budget denominator, and local peer source-share context.
Compare operating revenue shares against the Union County average; keep state aid, local levy, federal support, and fund balance on their own bases.Check: Revenue families
Pull or ask
State-aid notices and aid-calculation summary.
Budget-book revenue schedule and levy-cap worksheet.
Ask what share is formula aid, levy, reserve use, or one-time support.
Do not write yetOperating revenue is General Fund operating revenue, not all-funds revenue or a tax-bill calculation.
Tax effortHow does local tax effort compare once levy per planning student, estimated rate, and tax base are separated?
Tax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; local rank 21 of 21.UFB levy rows, estimated tax-rate side file where present, planning-student denominator, and local peer context.
Compare levy per UFB planning student, estimated school-tax rate, and tax-base rows separately before translating the signal into taxpayer burden.Check: Tax context
Pull or ask
Estimated tax-rate worksheet and municipal rate or bill tables.
Equalized and taxable valuation notices.
Ask finance officials how equalized value and rate rows translate to local bills.
Do not write yetEstimated tax-rate side-file rows are context; they are not audited property-tax bills.
Pupil-cost lineWhich NJDOE standardized per-pupil row is furthest from the local peer average?
Operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.NJDOE standardized pupil-cost rows, latest local peer average, and real-dollar history where loaded.
Compare the same NJDOE standardized pupil-cost row with the Union County average; use it to locate the cost category, not to rebuild the whole budget.Check: Pupil-cost rows
Pull or ask
Pupil-cost support schedule behind the standardized row.
Staffing roster, benefits rates, facilities, or program budget pages.
Ask which staffing, benefits, facilities, or program records feed the standardized row.
Do not write yetSeveral pupil-cost rows are components of broader totals, not an additive bridge.
This path is generated from the same ranked UFB signals as the budget memo and claim audit. It is a reporting crosswalk, not a finding that one row caused another.
Public hearing agenda
This turns the budget report into meeting questions: the generated UFB signal, the local record or explanation to ask for, the proof section to open, and the reading that should be blocked before a resident or reporter writes from the numbers.
Question
UFB signal
Ask for / check
Proof
Block this read
Current proposalWhich proposed changes are recurring, which are one-time or restricted, and what local action explains the largest named row?
Operating proposal changes -$10,845,408 from revised/current to proposed. Top named row: Adjustment for Prior Year Encumbrances -$14,372,916 (Revenue line 710).
Budget-hearing presentation, revised/current-to-proposed detail, board resolutions, and the contract, grant, tuition, transfer, or staffing memo behind the largest changed row.
Do not describe nominal proposal-column movement as the CPI-adjusted trend or as an audited spending result.
Relative costWhy does the published cost position sit where it does after peer choice, grade span, service load, funding model, and outside-operating rows are named?
NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average; local rank 4 of 21.
Adopted budget book, peer roster, grade-span/program notes, placement and transportation schedules, and budget presentations for the named peers.
Do not turn a high or low rank into efficiency, waste, adequacy, or quality language without outside reporting.
Categories and linesWhich category or source family is actually driving the story, and which account, program, restriction, or transfer sits underneath it?
State aid: $652,082,434; 96% of operating-budget scale; +64 pts versus Union County average; +$71,277,679 after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26; largest row: Equalization Aid.
Account detail for the selected family, program or staffing schedules, contract or transfer documents, grant/restriction notes, and board packet explanations for the largest row.
Do not add budget families or lower-level rows together; many are nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.
Inflation and denominatorIs the multi-year movement a real spending change, a planning-enrollment denominator change, a category mix change, or a one-year row?
Real operating budget changed +$65,750,419 from 2019-20 to 2025-26. Real operating budget per UFB planning student changed +$2,729. UFB planning on-roll changed -480.
First and latest budget books, enrollment projection memos, budget adoption minutes, account-level change notes, and any one-time grant, reserve, capital, or debt documents.
Do not make ordinary nominal growth the story until CPI-U, planning enrollment, peers, and category rows have been checked.
Students and servicesWhich enrollment, placement, tuition, preschool, transportation, or service-plan assumption changes the per-student read?
Special-education on-roll planning share is 11%, 7 pts below the Union County average; local rank 18 of 23.
Enrollment projection worksheet, fall-enrollment comparison, placement and tuition schedules, transportation contracts, preschool/service-plan notes, and receiving/sending district records.
Do not treat UFB planning rows as fall enrollment, direct student need, compliance, or service quality proof.
Reserves and side filesWhich balance, reserve, one-time, shared-service, unusual, grant, capital, or debt rows belong in the story, and which are outside recurring operating?
Fund-balance/reserve sources total $12.0 million; largest is budgeted fund balance at $10.9 million. All-funds net spending is $747.5 million, $71.0 million above proposed operating budget. Largest projected balance row: Restricted-General Operating Budget: Capital Reserve at $75.1 million. Shared-service file has 2 rows.
Audit or ACFR fund-balance note, reserve-transfer approvals, unusual-item explanations, shared-service agreements, grant award letters, capital project schedules, and debt-service documents.
Do not treat planned balance or reserve rows as audited cash, recurring revenue, or a structural-deficit finding; do not sum side files into operating spending.
This is generated from the same UFB rows as the report, but the records named here are outside the UFB release. The table is a civic checklist, not a claim that the outside records already prove the explanation.
Budget news judgment
This filter labels what is background, what the UFB rows can support now, what needs a second signal, and what still requires outside reporting before the budget story is written.
Judgment
Evidence
Next step
Do not write
BackgroundNominal budget growth or a plain spending-up sentence.
Nominal operating budget moved +$191,486,135 from 2019-20 to 2025-26. The report tests that against CPI-U, UFB planning enrollment, and peer evidence: real operating budget per UFB planning student moved +$2,729.
Move to real dollars, fair peer/slice comparisons, category/source-family evidence, proposal columns, or side-file context before making it the story.Trends and inflation
Do not publish a generic 'spending went up' read as the budget story unless the second signal explains why it matters.
UFB-ready factThe latest proposal column changed.
Proposed operating budget changed -$10,845,408 from revised/current to proposed in the latest UFB file.
Report it as nominal current-proposal movement, then inspect named revenue and appropriation rows.Proposal changes
Do not mix this latest-file movement with the CPI-adjusted multi-year trend.
Reportable UFB signalWhich spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years?
+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis. Evidence basis: Contextual revenue and appropriation families, current scale, peer gap, proposal movement, and real-dollar movement.
Use this as the first local budget question, then check the linked proof section.Category evidence
Budget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
Second-signal checkWho pays for the operating budget, and is that funding mix typical for local peers?
The largest operating revenue source is state sources, 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average. Evidence basis: Latest General Fund operating revenue summary, operating-budget denominator, and local peer source-share context.
Carry this beside the lead so the first read is tested against another denominator, file, or comparison frame.Revenue families
Operating revenue is General Fund operating revenue, not all-funds revenue or a tax-bill calculation.
Needs reportingTurn the spending/category family signal into a local explanation.
Budget book, board packet, and account detail behind the linked proof section. Audit note or outside schedule if the row is restricted or one-time. Ask which local decision, outside requirement, or accounting rule produced the signal.
Identify the program, account, contract, staffing pattern, transfer, or restriction behind the family before writing the operational reason.Category evidence
A budget-family gap can reflect accounting structure, restrictions, pass-throughs, or obligations, not just policy choice.
Blocked shortcutCause, waste, adequacy, efficiency, intent, quality, or blame.
UFB rows can flag a reportable budget signal; they do not prove why it happened or whether it is good policy.
Use board documents, contracts, tax records, staffing/program records, audits, and interviews before writing causal language.Source rows
Do not turn spending/category family into a causal or quality claim from UFB alone.
The filter is generated from the same ranked UFB evidence as the reading memo, claim audit, and reporting notebook. It is a news judgment screen, not a causal model or a quality rating.
Budget diagnosis
For Elizabeth, the strongest generated read is what money buys. The table ranks the explanatory lanes before the report opens the long evidence sections, so the budget is not reduced to ordinary per-pupil growth or a single cost rank.
general current expense is the largest high-level use at 51% of operating budget; operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average; named row Equalization Aid is +57 pts versus local peers.
Which spending category, pupil-cost row, or named source row turns the broad cost number into a concrete budget story.
A program audit, a complete causal bridge, or an additive sum of nested UFB rows.
state sources supply 89% of General Fund operating revenue; that source share is 58 pts above the Union County average; tax levy per UFB on-roll is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; fund-balance, reserve, and carryover source rows total $12.0 million.
Why the same cost figure can mean different things in a state-funded, locally funded, federally supported, or balance-supported district.
A tax bill, a sustainability finding, or proof that source shares explain spending quality.
tax levy per UFB on-roll is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; rank 21 of 21 among Union County districts; highest estimated total school-tax rate shown is 0.3976 per $100 of valuation.
Whether the budget story is partly a local-burden story after levy, planning enrollment, estimated rate rows, and tax-base context are separated.
A household tax bill, audited property-tax burden, or proof that school spending alone caused the rate.
NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average; rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts; operating budget per UFB on-roll is $24,258, $13,322 below the Union County average; statewide comparative-cost rank is 223 of 566.
Whether the district is actually unusual after the local peer frame and operating denominator are named.
Quality, efficiency, adequacy, waste, or the cause of the rank.
budgeted out-of-district placements are 4% of UFB on-roll, 3 pts below the Union County average; special-education planning share is 11%, 7 pts below the Union County average.
Whether the per-student read is really about the denominator, placements, special education, or student-flow rows.
Fall enrollment, service severity, staffing need, service quality, or compliance.
operating budget changes -$10,845,408 from revised/current to proposed; largest named proposal movement is Special Revenue Funds at -$21,397,529.
What the latest UFB file says is changing now, in nominal revised/current-to-proposed dollars.
The long-run inflation-adjusted trend, or the board/contract/formula reason the proposal changed.
The diagnosis is generated from published UFB summary, source rows, local peer comparisons, side files, and loaded-year movement. It ranks evidence for reporting priority; it is not a causal model, quality rating, or accounting equation.
Comparison brief
Relative cost before the long report
This table puts the published cost line into the comparison frames that matter first: named local peers, all NJ districts, funding model, district scale, cost band, and any high-signal service or category slice. It is a triage layer before the detailed peer strips, slice panels, and source rows.
Comparison verdictFrame-sensitive cost read. The comparative cost per pupil is above in 3 frames, below in 1 frame and near in 2 frames across the 6 front comparison frames shown.
Frame to checkSchool-based budgeting districts: -$801 vs slice average; rank 18 of 30.
Reporting useDo not write from one rank; explain why this slice changes the read. Open proof
Relative-cost ladder
Read across comparison frames before treating one rank as the story. These rows use NJDOE comparative cost when available, then operating cost per UFB on-roll as the fallback.
Frame
District
Comparison
Gap
Union County districtsClosest named local benchmark before any statewide ranking.Comparative cost per pupil
$23,1264 of 21
$20,724Union County average
+$2,402
All NJ UFB districtsBroad statewide baseline; useful, but not a fair peer group by itself.Comparative cost per pupil
$23,126223 of 566
$23,591NJ average
-$465
School-based budgeting districtsSchool-based contribution rows shift spending visibility into school-resource statements.Comparative cost per pupil
$23,12618 of 30
$23,927slice average
-$801
Mostly state-funded districtsFunding model changes what the same per-pupil cost can mean.Comparative cost per pupil
$23,12618 of 45
$22,385slice average
+$741
Middle-half comparative-cost districtsThis asks whether the district is unusual even among districts in the same cost band.Comparative cost per pupil
$23,12681 of 282
$22,185slice average
+$941
10,000+ UFB on-roll districtsScale helps separate large-system budgets from fixed-cost small-district pressure.Comparative cost per pupil
$23,1269 of 19
$22,550slice average
+$576
Frame
District
Comparison
Named check
How to use it
Union County districtsClosest named local benchmark before any statewide ranking.
Broad statewide baseline; useful, but not a fair peer group by itself. Secondary clue: Operating budget per UFB on-roll student is $24,258, $14,995 below the NJ average.Open proof
Funding model changes what the same per-pupil cost can mean. Secondary clue: State operating revenue share is 89%, 13 pts above the slice average.Open proof
Middle-half comparative-cost districtsThis asks whether the district is unusual even among districts in the same cost band.
This asks whether the district is unusual even among districts in the same cost band. Secondary clue: Operating budget per UFB on-roll student is $24,258, $2,243 below the slice average.Open proof
10,000+ UFB on-roll districtsScale helps separate large-system budgets from fixed-cost small-district pressure.
Scale helps separate large-system budgets from fixed-cost small-district pressure. Secondary clue: Operating budget per UFB on-roll student is $24,258, $189 above the slice average.Open proof
Frames overlap and keep their own denominators. "Next higher" and "next lower" are numeric positions on the selected measure, not judgments about efficiency, adequacy, or quality.
Budget story spine
This scan-first table turns the strongest generated signals into a proof path. It keeps the claim, UFB evidence, fair comparison, outside reporting need, and counter-reading in one row before the report opens the longer evidence sections.
Story path
UFB proof
Comparison / proof
Outside reporting
Do not overread
Spending/category familyWhich spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years?
source family+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.
Category evidenceUnion County average where local peer rows are usable; statewide and slice frames where the local peer set is incomplete.
Identify the program, account, contract, staffing pattern, transfer, or restriction behind the family before writing the operational reason.
Budget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
Funding modelWho pays for the operating budget, and is that funding mix typical for local peers?
89%The largest operating revenue source is state sources, 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average.
Revenue familiesUnion County average where local peer rows are usable; statewide and slice frames where the local peer set is incomplete.
Read aid notices, budget-hearing materials, and board minutes to separate formula aid, one-time support, reserve use, and local decisions.
Operating revenue is General Fund operating revenue, not all-funds revenue or a tax-bill calculation.
Tax effortHow does local tax effort compare once levy per planning student, estimated rate, and tax base are separated?
$2,145Tax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; local rank 21 of 21.
Tax contextUnion County average where local peer rows are usable; statewide and slice frames where the local peer set is incomplete.
Use municipal tax-bill, equalized-value, and rate documents to translate UFB levy/rate context into what local taxpayers actually experience.
Estimated tax-rate side-file rows are context; they are not audited property-tax bills.
Pupil-cost lineWhich NJDOE standardized per-pupil row is furthest from the local peer average?
$3,688Operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.
Pupil-cost rowsUnion County average where local peer rows are usable; statewide and slice frames where the local peer set is incomplete.
Read staffing, benefits, facilities, and program documents for the cost row; standardized pupil-cost categories are summaries, not explanations.
Several pupil-cost rows are components of broader totals, not an additive bridge.
Spending mixWhich operating-use category makes the district unlike its peers?
7%Employee benefits share is 7%, 10 pts below the Union County average; local rank 23 of 23.
Spending categoriesUnion County average where local peer rows are usable; statewide and slice frames where the local peer set is incomplete.
Identify the program, contract, transfer recipient, school allocation, or staffing pattern behind the category before attaching a policy explanation.
High-level use shares share one denominator, but lower-level UFB rows can overlap and should not be summed.
Cost positionDoes the cost rank still make sense after funding model, scale, placements, and outside-operating rows are considered?
$23,126NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126 per pupil, rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts, $2,402 above the Union County average.
Peer evidenceUnion County average where local peer rows are usable; statewide and slice frames where the local peer set is incomplete.
Choose the fair peers, then check grade span, program obligations, placement load, and audited budget documents before treating the rank as efficiency or inefficiency.
NJDOE comparative cost is the publisher’s metric; this is a comparison lead, not a judgment or a recomputed cost.
The spine is generated from latest-year peer gaps, named UFB rows, planning-enrollment evidence, side files, and real-dollar trend checks. It ranks reportable evidence paths, not spending quality or causal certainty.
Budget storylines to test
These are not finished articles. They are generated story packages that turn the strongest UFB signals into a responsible reporting route: the working nut graf, why the claim matters to readers, the proof inside UFB, the outside record to pull next, and the sentence not to write yet.
1Spending/category family
A budget family can turn the total into a story
Working nut graf. For Elizabeth, the UFB-supported story to test is this: +46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis. The reporting question is: Which spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years?
Why readers careReaders can move from one total budget number to the family of rows that is large, unusual, or moving.Proof in UFBContextual revenue and appropriation families, current scale, peer gap, proposal movement, and real-dollar movement. Category evidenceReport nextIdentify the program, account, contract, staffing pattern, transfer, or restriction behind the family before writing the operational reason.Do not write yetA budget-family gap can reflect accounting structure, restrictions, pass-throughs, or obligations, not just policy choice.
2Funding model
Who pays may explain more than how much
Working nut graf. For Elizabeth, the UFB-supported story to test is this: The largest operating revenue source is state sources, 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average. The reporting question is: Who pays for the operating budget, and is that funding mix typical for local peers?
Why readers careReaders can separate a budget that is locally funded, state-aid driven, federally supported, or temporarily balanced by reserves before judging the same cost number.Proof in UFBLatest General Fund operating revenue summary, operating-budget denominator, and local peer source-share context. Revenue familiesReport nextRead aid notices, budget-hearing materials, and board minutes to separate formula aid, one-time support, reserve use, and local decisions.Do not write yetA state-funded, locally funded, or fund-balance-heavy budget can produce the same cost figure for different reasons.
3Tax effort
Tax pressure needs its own benchmark
Working nut graf. For Elizabeth, the UFB-supported story to test is this: Tax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; local rank 21 of 21. The reporting question is: How does local tax effort compare once levy per planning student, estimated rate, and tax base are separated?
Why readers careReaders can separate school-budget pressure from taxable-base and municipal-rate context before translating UFB rows into household burden.Proof in UFBUFB levy rows, estimated tax-rate side file where present, planning-student denominator, and local peer context. Tax contextReport nextUse municipal tax-bill, equalized-value, and rate documents to translate UFB levy/rate context into what local taxpayers actually experience.Do not write yetLow levy per UFB on-roll does not automatically mean low household tax burden; high estimated rates do not by themselves prove school spending is the driver.
4Pupil-cost line
Standardized cost rows can point to a follow-up beat
Working nut graf. For Elizabeth, the UFB-supported story to test is this: Operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average. The reporting question is: Which NJDOE standardized per-pupil row is furthest from the local peer average?
Why readers careReaders can choose which standardized cost category deserves staffing, benefits, facilities, or program follow-up.Proof in UFBNJDOE standardized pupil-cost rows, latest local peer average, and real-dollar history where loaded. Pupil-cost rowsReport nextRead staffing, benefits, facilities, and program documents for the cost row; standardized pupil-cost categories are summaries, not explanations.Do not write yetPer-pupil cost rows are standardized comparison rows; they are not a complete staffing, contract, or program ledger.
Storylines are ranked from local peer gaps, source-row scale, planning-enrollment rows, side-file signals, proposal movement, and CPI-adjusted loaded-year checks. Money bases, fund scope, and denominators stay attached to each route; comparative cost remains NJDOE’s published metric.
Budget claim audit
This audit turns the report’s strongest signals into sentence-level budget claims. It separates what the UFB rows support from what still requires board materials, contracts, audits, tax records, staffing context, program records, or interviews.
Claim status
Safe wording
Evidence basis
Still not proven
Proof / next check
UFB-supported fact
The latest UFB file shows the proposed operating budget changes -$10,845,408 from the revised/current column to the proposed column.
Latest-year UFB revised/current and proposed operating-budget columns; nominal dollars.
This is the live proposal move, not the inflation-adjusted long-run trend or the reason the proposal changed.
+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.
Contextual revenue and appropriation families, current scale, peer gap, proposal movement, and real-dollar movement.
Budget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.
Rows are generated from latest-year peer gaps, named UFB rows, planning-enrollment evidence, side files, latest-file proposal columns, and inflation-adjusted trend checks. Safe wording is the strongest UFB-supported sentence before outside reporting, not a finished story.
Comparison movement brief
This table separates the generic spending-up-over-time story from the district-specific comparison story. It asks whether selected cost, funding, tax, category, and service-load measures moved toward or away from the Union County average from 2019-20 to 2025-26.
Measure
First gap
Latest gap
Read the movement
Check next
Comparative cost per pupil2019-20 to 2025-26
+$3282019-20 vs local peer average
+$2,4022025-26 vs local peer average
The measure moved farther above the Union County average; the gap moved +$2,075.
Money measures are converted to 2025 dollars before peer gaps are compared. This is a direction-of-comparison brief, not a causal test; a widening or narrowing gap still needs category, denominator, tax, service-load, and source-row evidence.
Comparison-frame movement
This panel takes the latest-year comparison frames from the relative-cost ladder and asks whether this district's published comparative cost moved closer to or farther from each frame from 2019-20 to 2025-26, after CPI-U adjustment.
Latest readFrame-sensitive over time. The latest real comparative cost is above in 4 frames and below in 1 frame.
Largest movementLocal peer set moved +$2,075 versus its frame.
Reporting useOne comparison frame cannot carry the story; name which frame changes the read.
Frame
First gap
Latest gap
Movement
Read the movement
Union County districtsClosest named local comparison set.
+$3282019-20 vs Union County average
+$2,4022025-26 vs Union County average
+$2,0752019-20 to 2025-26
The measure moved farther above the Union County average; the gap moved +$2,075.
All NJ UFB districtsBroad statewide baseline; useful, but not a fair peer group by itself.
-$2,3522019-20 vs NJ average
-$4652025-26 vs NJ average
+$1,8882019-20 to 2025-26
The measure moved closer to the NJ average; the gap moved +$1,888.
Middle-half comparative-cost districtsLatest-year comparative-cost band held constant across loaded years.
-$1,0992019-20 vs slice average
+$9412025-26 vs slice average
+$2,0402019-20 to 2025-26
The measure crossed from below to above the slice average; the gap moved +$2,040.
Mostly state-funded districtsLatest-year funding model held constant across loaded years.
+$5942019-20 vs slice average
+$7412025-26 vs slice average
+$1472019-20 to 2025-26
The measure moved farther above the slice average; the gap moved +$147.
10,000+ UFB on-roll districtsLatest-year UFB on-roll scale group held constant across loaded years.
-$1842019-20 vs slice average
+$5762025-26 vs slice average
+$7612019-20 to 2025-26
The measure crossed from below to above the slice average; the gap moved +$761.
Money values are converted to 2025 dollars before gaps are compared. Frame membership uses the latest UFB year and is held constant when looking backward, so this is a fair-comparison trend check, not a cohort study, efficiency rating, adequacy finding, or causal explanation.
Operating story basis
This table classifies the latest UFB evidence before the report asks what the budget means. It separates recurring operating-budget signals from the live proposal, reserve and carryover sources, side-file context, and outside-operating rows before comparing this district with the Union County average or statewide slices.
proposed operating budget $676,433,422; state sources supply 89% of operating revenue; general current expense is 51% of operating usesScale: $676.4 million
Use for the district’s main current-year operating story: who funds the General Fund operating budget and which high-level uses dominate it.
Do not mix this with all-funds grants, debt, capital, or side-file rows as though everything recurs on the same basis.
Special Revenue Funds is the largest outside-operating row, $76,365,105Scale: 11% of operating budget
Use as scale context for grants, debt, capital, preschool, and other fund sections that can make all-funds totals diverge from the operating story.
Do not add these rows to General Fund operating uses or treat the operating-equivalent share as a spending mix.
The recurring row uses the proposed General Fund operating budget as the common basis. Proposal movement is nominal revised/current-to-proposed evidence; trend panels convert dollars to 2025 only where labeled. Reserve, recap, unusual-item, shared-service, tax, and outside-operating rows are kept separate because they answer different journalism questions.
Structural squeeze test
The squeeze test asks whether Elizabeth has the pattern a budget story usually needs: main operating sources, operating-use families, one-time support, denominator or service-load rows, and peer context pointing toward recurring pressure. It also marks what UFB cannot prove.
Local, state, and federal operating-source summaries moved +$79,696,870 after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26; those summaries equal 102% of the latest proposed operating budget; operating-budget scale moved +$65,750,419, while source movement outpaced it by $13,946,451.
Use this to test whether the main recurring operating sources kept pace with operating scale after CPI-U. It is not a tax-cap or adequacy finding by itself.
Pull the levy-cap worksheet, state-aid notice, cap-bank/waiver rows, budget book, and board presentation before writing a cap-limited or underfunded-budget claim.
School-based budgeting moved +$5,464,502 after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest scale is 50% of proposed operating budget; 46 pts above the Union County average; largest latest source row: General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting.
Use this as the first appropriation/use family to inspect. Rows can still be nested, so this does not prove a single driver or an additive subtotal.
Pull staffing rosters, contracts, placement details, program schedules, and budget-book narratives before assigning cause or judging service quality.
Budgeted fund balance is the largest latest named limited-source row inside $11,986,261 of fund-balance, reserve, and carryover sources; total limited-source support moved -$7,673,549 after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26.
Use this to test whether the operating story depends partly on balance, reserve, or carryover rows rather than recurring operating sources.
Pull the audit, reserve schedules, fund-balance policy, appropriation-of-surplus resolution, and board packet before calling this cash stress or a structural deficit.
UFB planning on-roll moved -480; special-education on-roll is 3,196 (11% of UFB on-roll); sent placements are 1,116 (4% of UFB on-roll).
Use this to keep per-pupil cost and category movement tied to the planning denominator and visible service-load rows.
Pull fall enrollment, special-education placement records, IEP/service obligations, tuition contracts, and staffing schedules before explaining why the load changed.
Comparative cost per pupil is $23,126, +$2,402 vs Union County average; rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts; Tax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, -$12,236 vs Union County average; State operating revenue share is 89%, +58 pts vs Union County average.
Use the peer frame to decide whether the squeeze signal is district-specific, common among local peers, or mainly a funding-model comparison.
Pull comparable districts' budget books, staffing/service context, and tax-base records before treating a rank as efficiency, adequacy, or resident impact.
UFB rows can show loaded-year source movement, operating-use movement, limited-source rows, service-load denominators, and peer position through 2025-26.
Use UFB to form a recurring-pressure hypothesis and to say which signals point the same direction. Do not write future deficit, statutory cap exhaustion, layoffs, service cuts, or intent from UFB alone.
Pull the board budget book, public-hearing deck, tax levy cap calculation, state aid notice, collective-bargaining and staffing records, audit, and any projected-gap or cut-list documents.
Dollar movement uses 2025 CPI-U dollars where the row says after inflation. The test is a reporting checklist, not a structural-deficit finding, tax-bill estimate, service-quality rating, or levy-cap calculation.
Budget flow bridge
This table keeps the budget report from reading as disconnected panels. It puts the relative cost frame, money in, money out, proposal movement, outside-operating rows, side files, and student denominator in one scan before the report compares this district with the Union County average and the statewide slices below.
Special Revenue Funds: $76.4 million (11%); All-funds net above operating: $71.0 million (11%); State projects: $49.8 million (7%)
Use this to explain why all-funds totals, grants, debt, capital, preschool, or project rows can make the budget look different from the operating story.
+6 pts vs Union County average; rank 2 of 23
Do not fold outside-operating rows into the General Fund operating mix or assume the operating-equivalent share recurs each year.
Budgeted fund balance $10.9 million; one-time source rows $12.0 million; projected recap balances $114.2 million
Use these side files to decide whether reserve use, projected balances, unusual explanations, shared services, or tax basis should travel with the operating story.
Peer and history checks live in the side-file and reserve sections; they are separate from operating-revenue mix.
Do not read side files as recurring revenue, audited cash, complete payroll, audited savings, or tax-bill advice.
UFB planning on-roll 27,885; fall enrollment 26,708; sent placements 4% of UFB on-roll; special-education planning rows 11% of UFB on-roll
Use this before making per-student claims: the UFB planning denominator, fall enrollment, and service-load rows can point to different stories.
-3 pts vs Union County average; rank 8 of 20
Do not replace NJDOE comparative cost with a homemade denominator or treat planning rows as direct proof of student need.
The bridge is a reporting map, not an accounting equation. It uses the proposed General Fund operating budget as a common scale only where labeled; proposal rows are nominal latest-file movement, and inflation-adjusted trend evidence appears later in 2025 dollars.
Budget pressure map
This table turns the report into a first-read checklist. It ranks the budget pressures that UFB evidence can surface for this district, then separates what each pressure can explain from what still needs reporting outside the UFB files.
Comparative cost per pupil is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average; local rank 4 of 21; Operating budget per UFB on-roll student is $24,258, $13,322 below the Union County average; statewide comparative-cost rank 223 of 566.
Whether the district looks high, low, or ordinary before a reader turns to categories, taxes, and service load.
Spending quality, efficiency, or the reason the district sits where it does.
state sources supply 89% of General Fund operating revenue; that source share is 58 pts above the Union County average; tax levy per UFB on-roll is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; fund-balance, reserve, and carryover sources total $12.0 million.
Who pays for the operating budget and whether a cost position also creates local levy, aid, or balance-source pressure.
A property-tax bill, audited all-funds revenue, or proof that the funding model is sustainable.
general current expense is the largest high-level use at 51% of operating budget; operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average; named row Equalization Aid is +57 pts versus local peers.
Which use categories, cost rows, or named source rows deserve the first follow-up instead of quoting total spending.
A complete program budget or an additive accounting bridge; UFB rows can be nested, repeated, or contextual.
budgeted out-of-district placements are 4% of UFB on-roll, 3 pts below the Union County average; special-education planning share is 11%, 7 pts below the Union County average.
Whether a per-student read is really about the denominator, placements, special education, or student-flow rows.
Fall enrollment, program severity, service quality, or audited staffing need.
Special Revenue Funds is $76.4 million, 11% of operating budget; 5 material outside-operating rows clear the scale threshold.
Why all-funds, grants, debt, capital, preschool, or project rows may change the budget-year context.
A General Fund operating spending mix, or evidence that outside-operating rows recur on the same basis.
Pressure rows are generated from the latest UFB summary, source rows, local peer comparisons where enough peers have data, and loaded-year trend rows. Money movement is inflation-adjusted only where this table says 2025 dollars or after inflation; proposal rows are nominal latest-file changes.
Budget tension checks
These checks pair signals that are easy to overread alone: current cost position, inflation-adjusted movement, proposal-column changes, tax burden, funding model, category slices, service load, reserves, and outside-operating rows.
Tension to test
Signal pair
How it changes the read
Proof
Cost position vs local tax burden
Operating budget per UFB on-roll student is $24,258, $13,322 below the Union County average; rank 10 of 23 among Union County districts.Tax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; rank 21 of 21 among Union County districts.
Cost and tax burden are separate comparison axes; a low-cost read does not automatically mean low local effort.
Operating budget per UFB on-roll student is $24,258, $13,322 below the Union County average; rank 10 of 23 among Union County districts.Operating budget per UFB on-roll student changed +$2,729 after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26.
A below-peer cost position can still be moving up in real terms, so the comparison should not flatten the inflation story.
Operating budget changes -$10,845,408 from revised/current to proposed in the latest UFB file.Operating scale changed +$65,750,419 in 2025 dollars from 2019-20 to 2025-26.
The latest nominal proposal moves against the loaded-year real trend, so a current budget vote or hearing story should not be written as a simple continuation.
State operating revenue share is 89%, 58 pts above the Union County average; rank 1 of 21 among Union County districts.Operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average; rank 1 of 21 among Union County districts.
Pair the revenue model with the use category before implying that a high or low spending slice is locally discretionary.
Operating budget per UFB on-roll student is $24,258, $13,322 below the Union County average; rank 10 of 23 among Union County districts.Operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average; rank 1 of 21 among Union County districts.
The category row helps turn the cost comparison into a concrete budget question, but it should not be treated as a complete program audit.
Operating budget per UFB on-roll student is $24,258, $13,322 below the Union County average; rank 10 of 23 among Union County districts.budgeted out-of-district placements are 4%, 3 pts below the Union County average; special-education planning share is 11%, 7 pts below the Union County average.
Before treating the per-pupil number as a pure spending comparison, check whether placements, special education, or the UFB denominator explain part of the position.
Tension checks are generated from the same UFB rows used elsewhere in the report. They are not causal findings. Money trend claims are inflation-adjusted only where labeled as 2025 dollars or after inflation; proposal movement is nominal revised/current-to-proposed movement.
Category story map
State aid is the largest selected source-row family at 96% of operating-budget scale. State aid has the widest selected local peer gap, 64 pts above the Union County average. State aid moved the most after inflation, +$71,277,679 from 2019-20 to 2025-26. This map puts the category question in one place: current scale, local comparison, inflation-adjusted movement, and the latest proposal-column move.
Budget family
Question to test
Category evidence
Source row and proof
State aidlarge current scale / local peer gap / inflation-adjusted movement
Which aid lines explain dependence on state funding or first-to-latest movement?
Latest scale $652,082,434 (96% op. equiv.)+64 pts versus the Union County average+$71,277,679 real movement from 2019-20 to 2025-26-$2,408,415 latest proposal movement; 0 pts of operating scale
Equalization Aid (Revenue line 460, $522,908,752)Equalization Aid (+$19,445,897 latest-file move)CategoriesProposalTrend
Special revenue fundslarge current scale / local peer gap / inflation-adjusted movement
How large are grant-funded or otherwise outside-operating programs relative to operating budgets?
Latest scale $152,730,210 (23% op. equiv.)+11 pts versus the Union County average-$16,794,330 real movement from 2019-20 to 2025-26-$42,795,058 latest proposal movement; -6 pts of operating scale
Total Special Revenue Funds (Appropriation line 88760, $76,365,105)Total Special Revenue Funds (-$21,397,529 latest-file move)CategoriesProposalTrendSide files
School-based budgetinglarge current scale / local peer gap / inflation-adjusted movement
Do school-level allocations show up as a material budgeting model or comparison slice?
Latest scale $338,625,335 (50% op. equiv.)+46 pts versus the Union County average+$5,464,502 real movement from 2019-20 to 2025-26+$2,965,373 latest proposal movement; 0 pts of operating scale
General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting (Appropriation line 84020, $329,625,339)General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting (+$2,966,945 latest-file move)CategoriesProposalTrend
Local taxes and local sourceslarge current scale / local peer gap / inflation-adjusted movement
How much of the budget story is local levy, tuition, fees, or miscellaneous local revenue?
Latest scale $62,420,963 (9% op. equiv.)-51 pts versus the Union County average-$14,924,023 real movement from 2019-20 to 2025-26+$1,490,052 latest proposal movement; 0 pts of operating scale
Total Tax Levy (Revenue line 100/114, $59,813,124)Unrestricted Miscellaneous Revenues (+$1,518,493 latest-file move)CategoriesProposalTrend
Preschoollarge current scale / local peer gap / inflation-adjusted movement
Is preschool aid, carryover, instruction, or support service scale material?
Latest scale $125,444,694 (19% op. equiv.)+10 pts versus the Union County average-$30,457,108 real movement from 2019-20 to 2025-26-$7,925,919 latest proposal movement; -1 pt of operating scale
Total Preschool Education Aid (Appropriation line 87100, $49,290,331)Total Preschool Education Aid (-$3,387,532 latest-file move)CategoriesProposalTrend
Instruction programslarge current scale / local peer gap / inflation-adjusted movement
Which classroom or instructional program rows define the core spending structure?
Latest scale $57,920,713 (9% op. equiv.)-20 pts versus the Union County average+$12,463,183 real movement from 2019-20 to 2025-26-$572,088 latest proposal movement; 0 pts of operating scale
Total Regular Programs-Instruction (Appropriation line 3200, $40,574,107)Total Regular Programs-Instruction (-$889,276 latest-file move)CategoriesTrend
Budget families are generated from contextual UFB revenue and appropriation source rows. Latest scale and peer gap use proposed operating budget as a common denominator; real movement is converted to 2025 dollars; proposal movement is nominal revised/current-to-proposed movement in the latest UFB file. Families can be nested, outside-operating, or repeated across files, so this is a reporting map rather than an additive budget schedule.
Proposal versus trend
The latest proposal and the loaded-year category trend do not answer the same question. For State aid, the proposal is a counter-move: -$2,408,415 in nominal latest-file movement versus +$71,277,679 across loaded years after inflation. Across material family rows, this scan finds 6 continuing trends, 8 counter-moves, and 2 current-only moves.
Relationship
Loaded-year trend
Current proposal
How to read it
Counter-moveState aid
+$71,277,6792019-20 to 2025-26 in 2025 dollars; share moved +1 pt.
-$2,408,4150 pts of proposed operating-budget scale.Equalization Aid (Revenue, line 460, +$19,445,897)
The latest proposal points opposite the loaded-year real movement, so this is the first place to check whether the budget is pivoting.ProposalTrendCategoriesPeers
Continues trendSchool-based budgeting
+$5,464,5022019-20 to 2025-26 in 2025 dollars; share moved -4 pts.
+$2,965,3730 pts of proposed operating-budget scale.General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting (Appropriation, line 84020, +$2,966,945)
The latest proposal points in the same direction as the inflation-adjusted movement across loaded UFB years.ProposalTrendCategoriesPeers
Current-only moveCapital, facilities, and debt
+$629,1992019-20 to 2025-26 in 2025 dollars; share moved 0 pts.
-$15,418,722-2 pts of proposed operating-budget scale.Total Capital Outlay (Appropriation, line 76400, -$11,122,967)
The latest proposal has a visible family move, while the loaded-year real trend is not material enough to call a direction.ProposalTrendCategoriesPeers
Continues trendSpecial revenue funds
-$16,794,3302019-20 to 2025-26 in 2025 dollars; share moved -5 pts.
-$42,795,058-6 pts of proposed operating-budget scale.Total Special Revenue Funds (Appropriation, line 88760, -$21,397,529)
The latest proposal points in the same direction as the inflation-adjusted movement across loaded UFB years.ProposalTrendCategoriesPeers
Counter-moveGeneral current expense
+$59,159,7212019-20 to 2025-26 in 2025 dollars; share moved +4 pts.
-$2,967,0170 pts of proposed operating-budget scale.Total General Current Expense (Appropriation, line 72260, -$2,967,017)
The latest proposal points opposite the loaded-year real movement, so this is the first place to check whether the budget is pivoting.ProposalTrendCategoriesPeers
Counter-moveLocal taxes and local sources
-$14,924,0232019-20 to 2025-26 in 2025 dollars; share moved -3 pts.
+$1,490,0520 pts of proposed operating-budget scale.Unrestricted Miscellaneous Revenues (Revenue, line 300, +$1,518,493)
The latest proposal points opposite the loaded-year real movement, so this is the first place to check whether the budget is pivoting.ProposalTrendCategoriesPeers
This bridge keeps timing bases separate. Loaded-year trend values are inflation-adjusted to 2025 dollars and compare the first and latest loaded UFB years; proposal values are nominal revised/current-to-proposed movement in the latest UFB file. A counter-move is a reporting prompt, not proof of a policy reversal or cause.
Budget reporting lead sheet
This lead sheet turns the generated budget signals into a reporting agenda: what looks most explainable, what question a resident should ask, and which caveat keeps the evidence from becoming an overclaim.
1Spending/category familysource family+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.Reader questionWhich spending or source family makes the district unlike its peers or its own prior years?Do not overreadBudget families can be nested, repeated, or contextual, so they are reporting leads rather than an additive budget schedule.Category evidence
2Funding model89%The largest operating revenue source is state sources, 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average.Reader questionWho pays for the operating budget, and is that funding mix typical for local peers?Do not overreadOperating revenue is General Fund operating revenue, not all-funds revenue or a tax-bill calculation.Revenue families
3Tax effort$2,145Tax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; local rank 21 of 21.Reader questionHow does local tax effort compare once levy per planning student, estimated rate, and tax base are separated?Do not overreadEstimated tax-rate side-file rows are context; they are not audited property-tax bills.Tax context
4Pupil-cost line$3,688Operations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.Reader questionWhich NJDOE standardized per-pupil row is furthest from the local peer average?Do not overreadSeveral pupil-cost rows are components of broader totals, not an additive bridge.Pupil-cost rows
5Spending mix7%Employee benefits share is 7%, 10 pts below the Union County average; local rank 23 of 23.Reader questionWhich operating-use category makes the district unlike its peers?Do not overreadHigh-level use shares share one denominator, but lower-level UFB rows can overlap and should not be summed.Spending categories
6Cost position$23,126NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126 per pupil, rank 4 of 21 among Union County districts, $2,402 above the Union County average.Reader questionDoes the cost rank still make sense after funding model, scale, placements, and outside-operating rows are considered?Do not overreadNJDOE comparative cost is the publisher’s metric; this is a comparison lead, not a judgment or a recomputed cost.Peer evidence
7Line movement+$98,774,548Largest inflation-adjusted named-line movement: Equalization Aid, +$98,774,548 from 2019-20 to 2025-26.Reader questionWhich named source row moved most after inflation across loaded UFB years?Do not overreadThe selected row is a reporting lead, not a complete explanation of the operating budget change.Line history
8Real-dollar change+$65,750,419After inflation, the operating budget changed +$65,750,419 from 2019-20 to 2025-26.Reader questionAfter inflation, is the long-run movement about operating scale, denominator movement, or both?Do not overreadReal-dollar movement is long-run context; it is separate from the latest proposal-column decision.Inflation trends
Lead order comes from local peer gaps, UFB row scale, planning-enrollment rows, and inflation-adjusted movement. It ranks reportability, not importance to students or proof that a district should spend differently.
Editorial frame
For Elizabeth, the useful budget question is how to read comparative cost is $2,402 above the Union County average, state sources supply 89% of operating revenue, largest use is general current expense at 51%, and real operating scale changed +$65,750,419 since 2019-20. UFB can establish the money basis, peer position, row scale, and loaded-year movement; it cannot by itself prove whether the pattern reflects policy choices, student need, contracts, facilities, tax capacity, or one-time accounting.
What UFB can establish
Spending/category family+46 pts versus the Union County average; school-based budgeting moved +$5.5 million after CPI-U from 2019-20 to 2025-26; latest proposal moves school-based budgeting +$3.0 million. Source-family rows can be nested, contextual, or outside recurring operating basis.Category evidence
Funding modelThe largest operating revenue source is state sources, 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average.Revenue families
Tax effortTax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; local rank 21 of 21.Tax context
Pupil-cost lineOperations and maintenance per pupil is $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.Pupil-cost rows
What still needs reporting
Spending/category familyIdentify the program, account, contract, staffing pattern, transfer, or restriction behind the family before writing the operational reason.
Funding modelRead aid notices, budget-hearing materials, and board minutes to separate formula aid, one-time support, reserve use, and local decisions.
Tax effortUse municipal tax-bill, equalized-value, and rate documents to translate UFB levy/rate context into what local taxpayers actually experience.
Pupil-cost lineRead staffing, benefits, facilities, and program documents for the cost row; standardized pupil-cost categories are summaries, not explanations.
Competing readings to keep alive
Spending/category familyA budget-family gap can reflect accounting structure, restrictions, pass-throughs, or obligations, not just policy choice.
Funding modelA state-funded, locally funded, or fund-balance-heavy budget can produce the same cost figure for different reasons.
Tax effortLow levy per UFB on-roll does not automatically mean low household tax burden; high estimated rates do not by themselves prove school spending is the driver.
Pupil-cost linePer-pupil cost rows are standardized comparison rows; they are not a complete staffing, contract, or program ledger.
This frame is generated from the same UFB signals as the lead sheet. It is designed to prevent the report from turning row evidence into unsupported causality.
Budget model synthesis
Read this budget as higher local cost position, mostly state-funded, general-current centered, and real operating growth. The table below connects the strongest structural signals so the report is not just a list of panels.
Structural question
UFB evidence
Working read and proof section
Is this mainly a cost position or a scale story?
NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average; rank 4 of 21 locally; statewide rank 223 of 566; operating budget per UFB on-roll is $24,258, $13,322 below the Union County average
Can explainTreat cost rank as a starting signal, then test it against funding model, student/service load, denominator choices, and outside-operating rows before calling it efficiency, waste, or adequacy.Cannot proveA high or low rank does not prove value, waste, staffing quality, student need, or tax fairness by itself.Check: Peer evidence
Who pays, and is the tax-burden basis unusual?
state sources supply 89% of operating revenue, 58 pts above the Union County average; tax levy per UFB on-roll is $2,145, $12,236 below the Union County average; fund-balance/reserve sources equal $12.0 million
Can explainThe same per-pupil cost can mean different things in a locally funded, state-funded, or balance-supported budget. Operating revenue is not all-funds revenue, and UFB tax rows are context rather than a household tax bill.Cannot proveFunding share is not a full taxpayer-burden claim, and balance/reserve sources should not be read as recurring aid.Check: Operating funding and tax-burden basis
What does the operating budget buy differently?
largest high-level use is general current expense, 51% of operating budget; strongest peer mix gap is special revenue funds equivalent at 11%, 6 pts above the Union County average; named-row standout: Equalization Aid is +57 pts versus peers
Can explainUse shares and named rows are reporting leads. They can reflect pass-throughs, accounting structure, program obligations, staffing, contracts, facilities, or policy choices, so the category label is not the cause.Cannot proveUFB rows can be nested, repeated, or outside the operating fund, so category differences are not an additive causal bridge.Check: Categories and lines
Does the student/service load change the cost reading?
budgeted out-of-district placements are 1,116, 4% of UFB on-roll; special-education planning share is 11%, 7 pts below the Union County average; free/reduced-price lunch is 82%, +33 pts versus county fall-enrollment context
Can explainPer-student comparisons move when the denominator, sent/received flows, special-education planning rows, or student-need context differ. These rows are context, not a quality or compliance finding by themselves.Cannot provePlanning-enrollment and placement rows do not replace fall enrollment, individual service plans, or audited program costs.Check: Costs and students
What is the live decision versus the real long-run movement?
latest proposal changes operating budget -$10,845,408; real operating scale changed +$65,750,419 from 2019-20 to 2025-26; UFB on-roll changed -480; operating per UFB on-roll changed +$2,729 after inflation
Can explainCurrent proposal changes are nominal latest-file decisions. Trend claims convert loaded years to real dollars, and per-student movement must separate the budget numerator from the UFB planning-enrollment denominator.Cannot proveA real-dollar movement does not identify the board decision, contract, aid formula, or accounting change that produced it.Check: Proposal and inflation trend
Which context rows may explain the budget year without being recurring operating spending?
fund-balance/reserve source rows total $12.0 million; largest is budgeted fund balance; projected close-year recap balances total $114.2 million; shared-service file lists 2 arrangements; selected administrative base-salary rows total $3.5 million
Can explainReserve, balance, unusual-item, shared-service, school-resource, tax-rate, and salary rows can explain a budget year, but they are mixed side files and should not be summed into operating spending.Cannot proveSide-file amounts are not audited recurring operating totals and may be explanations, balances, estimates, or staffing snapshots.Check: Side files
This is a generated synthesis of published UFB rows, local peer context, and loaded-year movement. It is a reporting frame, not a causal finding or a claim that unlike denominators can be added together.
Cost gap ledger
This ledger translates the cost comparison into the largest visible gaps against the Union County average. Dollar rows are shown per UFB planning student where the source row is not already a per-pupil measure, so a reader can see whether the story is broad operating scale, who pays, a use category, a pupil-cost row, or a service-load denominator.
Budget basis
This district
Gap vs average
How to read it
Proof
Published costNJDOE comparative cost
$23,126Union County average: $20,724
+$2,402Rank 4 of 21
This is the official comparison line. Use the rest of the ledger to see which budget bases point in the same or opposite direction.
Use per UFB on-rollSchool-based budgeting contribution
$11,821Union County average: $923
+$10,898Rank 1 of 23
Use rows show where dollars sit per planning student. They are clues, not an additive bridge, because UFB rows can be nested or outside operating funds.
Use rows show where dollars sit per planning student. They are clues, not an additive bridge, because UFB rows can be nested or outside operating funds.
Use rows show where dollars sit per planning student. They are clues, not an additive bridge, because UFB rows can be nested or outside operating funds.
Rows use the Union County average with usable latest-year UFB data. The ledger is not an additive decomposition: revenue rows, lower-level appropriation rows, outside-operating rows, and pupil-cost rows answer different questions and must be checked in their proof sections.
UFB source coverage
The latest matched UFB row for 2025-26 exposes 10 usable source families for this report. This inventory shows what each file can establish before the report turns those rows into peer comparisons, trend checks, and source tables.
Source family
Latest coverage
What it can establish
Where it appears
Summary
$676.4 million proposed operating budget; 7 loaded UFB years: 2019-20 to 2025-26.
Published comparative cost, operating budget, summary revenue shares, tax levy, and UFB on-roll planning enrollment.
peer evidence · anatomySummary rows are the profile-facing spine, but they do not replace detailed source files.
Revenue file
43 positive rows; 38 contextual rows in the appendix; largest: Total Revenues from State Sources at $601.4 million.
Named aid, levy, fund-balance, reserve, tuition, grant, and other source rows behind the operating mix.
families · source rowsRevenue rows can include subtotals or non-operating sources; do not add the contextual rows into one revenue total.
Appropriation file
67 positive rows; 63 contextual rows in the appendix; largest: Total General Current Expense at $343.7 million.
High-level operating uses, fund totals, transfers, lower-level cost rows, capital, debt, and special-revenue scale.
categories · source rowsMany appropriation rows are nested; operating-equivalent shares are a scale reference, not an additive bridge.
Pupil-cost file
17 published per-pupil rows with latest proposed-year values.
NJDOE standardized per-pupil cost categories such as classroom, support, operations, administration, and benefits.
costs and studentsThese are NJDOE-published cost rows; the report does not recompute them from appropriations or enrollment.
Budget-enrollment file
10 planning rows; on-roll 27,885, special ed 3,196, sent 1,116.
students and service loadThese are planning rows, not fall enrollment, and counts should not be added to dollar rows.
Recap / balances
14 balance rows; Restricted-General Operating Budget: Capital Reserve at $75.1 million.
Projected close-year balances, reserves, restricted balances, and fund-balance context.
side filesRecap balances are not current operating appropriations or spendable-cash claims.
Estimated tax file
1 municipal/regional slice; highest rate 0.3976.
Estimated school-tax rates, levy slices, equalized values, taxable values, and regional spread context.
tax effort · raw tax rowsTax-file rows are estimated UFB context, not tax-bill advice or audited property-tax data.
Unusual-item file
0 positive explanation rows.
District-reported unusual revenue or appropriation explanations that may change the current-year story.
side-file explanationsUnusual rows can duplicate named revenue or appropriation rows and should not be added as a separate spending total.
Shared-services file
2 arrangement rows.
District-reported shared-service arrangements and optional savings fields.
shared-service profileReported savings are context rows, not audited offsets against the operating budget.
School-resource file
6 resource rows; largest: Resources: Total School-Based Budget at $677.3 million.
Published school-based resource statement rows where the district provides the side file.
school-resource rowsThese rows appear only for districts that publish the statement and can overlap with other operating rows.
Admin-salary file
24 listed salary rows; listed base salary total $3.5 million.
Selected administrative salary rows, FTE, shared-service flags, contract fields, and comments where published.
listed admin salariesThis is selected listed administration, not complete payroll or total compensation.
Presence in this inventory means the matched NJDOE User-Friendly Budget file includes usable rows for the latest budget year. Missing side-file rows may mean not published, not applicable, or no positive material entry; file coverage is evidence routing, not a fiscal total.
Statewide budget model
This district matches 2 generated statewide comparison frames. Those frames point to the fairest next comparison before reading every UFB source row.
89% stateMostly state-funded operating budgetState sources supply most of the proposed operating budget, so aid lines are central to the local story.Compare equalization aid, special education aid, adjustment aid, transfers, and local tax levy.This is operating revenue, not every grant, debt-service, or capital row.
49%School-based budgeting systemSchool-based contribution rows are a major part of the budget structure.Compare school-resource statement rows with central operating-use rows and peer evidence.School-based rows are source-reported budget rows and should not be stacked with nested lower-level rows.
Model thresholds mirror the statewide budget explorer where possible: funding shares, transfer pressure, school-based budgeting, small UFB on-roll, placement load, outside-operating scale, high tax effort, and real-dollar movement. Frames can overlap.
Statewide slice comparisons
These latest-year slices compare the district with statewide groups that share its funding model, UFB on-roll scale, cost position, or category signals. Published comparative cost is $23,126. UFB on-roll here is 27,885.
Relative-cost ladder
Comparison frame
Measure
District
Comparison avg
Gap
Rank
Union CountyThis is the closest local comparison frame before statewide slices.
Comparative cost per pupil
$23,126
$20,724
+$2,402
4 of 21
All NJ UFB districtsThis is the statewide baseline before narrowing to a more comparable slice.
Comparative cost per pupil
$23,126
$23,591
-$465
223 of 566
School-based budgeting districtsSchool-based contribution rows shift spending visibility from central categories to school-resource statements.
Comparative cost per pupil
$23,126
$23,927
-$801
18 of 30
Mostly state-funded districtsFunding model changes what a cost comparison means, because local levy, state aid, and other sources carry different reader questions.
Comparative cost per pupil
$23,126
$22,385
+$741
18 of 45
Middle-half comparative-cost districtsThis compares the district with others already in a similar published comparative-cost band.
Comparative cost per pupil
$23,126
$22,185
+$941
81 of 282
10,000+ UFB on-roll districtsUFB on-roll scale helps separate fixed-cost pressure from large-system operating scale.
Comparative cost per pupil
$23,126
$22,550
+$576
9 of 19
Read down the ladder before treating one rank as the story: local peers, all NJ, and overlapping statewide slices can point in different directions.
Rank 223 of 566All NJ UFB districtsComparative cost per pupil: $23,126, $465 below the NJ average ($23,591). Operating budget per UFB on-roll student: $24,258, $14,995 below the NJ average ($39,253). This is the statewide baseline before narrowing to a more comparable slice.566 districts have usable comparative cost per pupil values in this latest-year slice. Slice membership is latest-year and overlapping.
Rank 18 of 30School-based budgeting districtsComparative cost per pupil: $23,126, $801 below the slice average ($23,927). School-based budgeting share: 49%, 1 pt above the slice average (48%). School-based contribution rows shift spending visibility from central categories to school-resource statements.30 districts have usable comparative cost per pupil values in this latest-year slice. Slice membership is latest-year and overlapping.
Rank 18 of 45Mostly state-funded districtsComparative cost per pupil: $23,126, $741 above the slice average ($22,385). State operating revenue share: 89%, 13 pts above the slice average (76%). Funding model changes what a cost comparison means, because local levy, state aid, and other sources carry different reader questions.45 districts have usable comparative cost per pupil values in this latest-year slice. Slice membership is latest-year and overlapping.
Rank 81 of 282Middle-half comparative-cost districtsComparative cost per pupil: $23,126, $941 above the slice average ($22,185). Operating budget per UFB on-roll student: $24,258, $2,243 below the slice average ($26,501). This compares the district with others already in a similar published comparative-cost band.282 districts have usable comparative cost per pupil values in this latest-year slice. Slice membership is latest-year and overlapping.
Rank 9 of 1910,000+ UFB on-roll districtsComparative cost per pupil: $23,126, $576 above the slice average ($22,550). Operating budget per UFB on-roll student: $24,258, $189 above the slice average ($24,069). UFB on-roll scale helps separate fixed-cost pressure from large-system operating scale.19 districts have usable comparative cost per pupil values in this latest-year slice. Slice membership is latest-year and overlapping.
Slices are comparison frames, not causal peer cohorts. Districts can appear in several slices, and dollar figures in this panel are latest-year UFB dollars unless another section says it converts to real dollars.
Named similar-budget-model comps
The closest statewide comparison question is not only local geography. This screen names districts whose latest UFB profile is nearest on mostly state-funded, 10,000+ UFB on-roll, school-based budgeting, middle-half comparative cost, then keeps cost, funding, use, service, and tax clues in the same row.
mostly state-funded; school-based budgeting (local 11%, state 74%)
sent placements 9% of UFB on-roll; special-ed planning 14%
These are algorithmic nearest neighbors across published latest-year UFB measures, not causal peers, targets, or quality ratings. The screen is meant to make statewide slice comparisons concrete before the report moves into local peer ranks and raw source rows.
What changed, and what drove it
This panel turns the first-to-latest UFB history into reporting leads: inflation-adjusted operating scale, denominator movement, peer-position change, source shifts, use shifts, and named rows.
+$65.8MOperating scaleAfter inflation, the proposed operating budget changed +$65,750,419 (11%) from 2019-20 to 2025-26. UFB on-roll changed -480 over the same span. Operating budget per UFB on-roll student changed +$2,729.Uses proposed operating budget converted to 2025 dollars and UFB planning enrollment, not fall enrollment.
+$2,402Comparative-cost peer gapAgainst the Union County average, this gap moved from +$328 in 2019-20 to +$2,402 in 2025-26.Money values are inflation-adjusted to 2025 dollars; peer averages use Union County districts with usable rows in each year.
+5 ptsRevenue-source shiftState sources moved from 84% to 89% of the proposed operating budget, a real-dollar change of +$87,873,845.Revenue-source shares use the proposed operating budget as the denominator, so they describe operating structure rather than all-funds revenue.
+4 ptsOperating-use shiftGeneral current expense moved from 47% to 51% of the proposed operating budget, a real-dollar change of +$59,159,721.High-level use shares come from General Fund appropriation rows; nested lower-level rows are handled later in the category table.
+$98.8MLargest named-line increaseEqualization Aid rose from $424,134,204 to $522,908,752.This is a contextual revenue row. Its operating-budget share changed +8 pts.
-$15.5MLargest named-line decreaseTotal Tax Levy fell from $75,321,296 to $59,813,124.This is a contextual revenue row. Its operating-budget share changed -3 pts.
This is not an additive budget bridge. UFB rows are contextual and sometimes nested, and loaded UFB year columns mix actual-cost, revised/original-budget, and proposed-budget bases.
Operating budget
$676.4 million
proposed General Fund, 2025-26
Per planning student
$24,258
operating budget divided by UFB on-roll
Peer cost rank
4 of 21
1 = highest comparative cost among Union County districts
State sources
$601.4 million
89% of operating-budget scale
Top use family
50%
School-based budgeting
Real per-student move
+$2,729
2019-20 to 2025-26, CPI-U adjusted
Budget report section
Reader questions
What should a resident ask before reading the row-level tables?
Budget walkthrough
Read the budget in five passes: money in, money out, costs and students, what changed, and which UFB side files deserve attention.
Money in
State sources supplied 89% of the proposed operating budget, 58 pts above the Union County average.
Operating sources: local sources 9%, state sources 89%, federal sources <1%, fund balance / other 2%.
Tax levy: $59.8 million, or $2,145 per UFB on-roll student (21 of 21 locally).
Fund balance and reserve sources total $12.0 million; largest is budgeted fund balance at $10.9 million.
Money out
The largest high-level use is general current expense, $343.7 million or 51% of the operating budget.
General current expense: $343.7 million (51%).
School-based budgeting: $329.6 million (49%).
Charter / renaissance transfers: $1.8 million (<1%).
Capital outlay: $1.3 million (<1%).
Nested detail row: operations and maintenance is $81.2 million (12% of operating budget; peer average 9%).
Costs and students
NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126 per pupil, $2,402 above the Union County average (4 of 21 locally).
UFB on-roll planning enrollment is 27,885; fall enrollment on the district profile is 26,708.
Budgeted out-of-district placements total 1,116, 4% of UFB on-roll (8 of 20 locally).
Operations and maintenance per pupil: $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.
Classroom instruction per pupil: $13,452, $1,260 above the Union County average.
What changed
Operating budget per UFB on-roll changed +$2,729 after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26.
Comparative cost per pupil changed +$2,203 after inflation.
Largest named-line increase: Equalization Aid, up $98,774,548 in 2025 dollars.
Largest named-line decrease: Total Tax Levy, down $15,508,172 in 2025 dollars.
Aggregate operating budget changed +$65,750,419 in real terms; read that scale check with the UFB on-roll denominator before treating it as the story.
Side files to check
Projected balance: Restricted-General Operating Budget: Capital Reserve at $75.1 million, -$5,088,843 versus the prior balance column.
Projected balance: Restricted-General Operating Budget: Maintenance Reserve at $20.7 million, -$1,772,992 versus the prior balance column.
Shared-service entries: 2, savings often not reported.
School-based resource row: Resources: Total School-Based Budget at $677.3 million.
Listed administrative salary rows total $3.5 million across 24 UFB rows.
This walkthrough uses the same generated measures as the tables below. It is an orientation layer, not a substitute for the UFB source rows.
Budget diagnostic
These generated checks turn the UFB source files into reader questions: cost position, funding model, spending mix, student-service load, inflation-adjusted movement, and side-file context.
Is this a size story or a cost story?
Comparative cost is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average.
Operating budget per UFB on-roll student is $24,258, $13,322 below the Union County average.
All-funds spending is $747.5 million, $71.0 million above the operating budget.
27% of operating dollars among Union County districts and 28% of UFB on-roll planning enrollment.
Comparative cost rank is 4 of 21 locally; statewide rank 223 of 566.
Who pays for the operating budget?
Largest operating source: state sources, 89% of operating revenue, 58 pts above the Union County average.
Operating-source mix: local sources 9%, state sources 89%, fund balance / other 2%.
Tax levy per UFB on-roll student is $2,145, rank 21 of 21 locally.
Estimated tax-rate file lists 1 municipal/regional slice; the highest total school-tax rate shown is 0.3976 per $100 of valuation.
Fund balance and reserve withdrawals total $12.0 million; largest is budgeted fund balance at $10.9 million.
Where does the spending mix differ?
Largest high-level use: general current expense, 51% of the operating budget.
Employee benefits share: 7%, 10 pts below the Union County average; local rank 23 of 23.
Special Revenue Funds equivalent: 11%, 6 pts above the Union County average; local rank 2 of 23.
What student-service load is budgeted?
Budgeted out-of-district placements total 1,116, or 4% of UFB on-roll; rank 8 of 20 locally.
Special-education on-roll planning share is 11%, 7 pts below the Union County average.
Largest NJDOE pupil-cost gap: operations and maintenance per pupil at $3,688, $1,277 above the Union County average.
What changed after inflation?
Operating budget per UFB on-roll changed +$2,729 after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26.
Comparative cost per pupil changed +$2,203 after inflation.
Largest named-line increase: Equalization Aid, up $98,774,548 in 2025 dollars.
Largest named-line decrease: Total Tax Levy, down $15,508,172 in 2025 dollars.
Aggregate operating budget changed +$65,750,419 in real terms; read that scale check with the UFB on-roll denominator before treating it as the story.
What one-time notes, balances, or side files matter?
Largest projected balance row: Restricted-General Operating Budget: Capital Reserve at $75.1 million, -$5,088,843 versus the prior balance column.
Shared-service file lists 2 district-reported entries, with savings often not reported.
School-based resource statement lists 6 material rows; largest shown is Resources: Total School-Based Budget at $677.3 million.
The diagnostics compare measures only where enough local peers have usable UFB values. Ranks and gaps are flags for reporting, not judgments about whether the spending is good or bad.
Budget report section
Proposal changes
What changed from revised/current to proposed, and which named rows explain the movement?
Current proposal changes
This section compares the latest UFB revised/current-budget column with the proposed-budget column. It answers what the proposal changes now, before the report turns to long-run inflation-adjusted trends.
-$10.8MOperating budgetThe proposed operating budget is -$10,845,408 (-2%) versus the revised/current-budget column. The Union County average proposal change was -6% of proposed operating-budget scale.
-$335Comparative costNJDOE published comparative cost moved -$335 per pupil (-1%) from the revised/current column to the proposed column. The Union County average change was -$168.
+$19.4MLargest revenue rowEqualization aid changed +$19,445,897 from revised/current to proposed. Peer average proposal movement for the same row was <1% of operating scale.
-$21.4MLargest use rowSpecial Revenue Funds changed -$21,397,529 from revised/current to proposed. Peer average proposal movement for the same row was >-1% of operating scale.
+207UFB on-rollUFB on-roll planning enrollment changed +207 (<1%) from revised/current to proposed. The Union County average on-roll proposal change was 6%.
Revenue proposal changes
UFB row
Revised/current
Proposed
Change
Op. equiv.
Peer avg
Equalization aidUFB line 460
$503,462,855
$522,908,752
+$19,445,897
3%
<1%
State sourcesUFB line 520
$587,231,614
$601,391,649
+$14,160,035
2%
-2%
Federal sourcesUFB line 830
$38,369,348
$26,166,173
-$12,203,175
-2%
>-1%
Operating budgetUFB line 720
$687,278,830
$676,433,422
-$10,845,408
-2%
-6%
Special education aidUFB line 440
$30,504,417
$27,384,456
-$3,119,961
>-1%
<1%
Title IUFB line 775
$15,600,292
$12,988,087
-$2,612,205
>-1%
>-1%
Security aidUFB line 470
$14,965,943
$12,832,785
-$2,133,158
>-1%
<1%
Use proposal changes
UFB row
Revised/current
Proposed
Change
Op. equiv.
Peer avg
Special Revenue FundsUFB line 88760
$97,762,634
$76,365,105
-$21,397,529
-3%
>-1%
Operations and maintenanceUFB line 51120
$93,285,223
$81,232,401
-$12,052,822
-2%
>-1%
Capital outlayUFB line 76400
$12,408,699
$1,285,732
-$11,122,967
-2%
-7%
Instruction tuitionUFB line 29180
$34,729,812
$38,378,419
+$3,648,607
<1%
<1%
Preschool Education AidUFB line 87100
$52,677,863
$49,290,331
-$3,387,532
>-1%
<1%
Employee benefitsUFB line 71260
$46,355,000
$49,636,486
+$3,281,486
<1%
1%
General current expenseUFB line 72260
$346,699,727
$343,732,710
-$2,967,017
>-1%
<1%
Cost and student rows
UFB row
Revised/current
Proposed
Change
Peer avg
Comparative cost
$23,461
$23,126
-$335
-$168
On-roll, full
24,484
24,691
+207
6%
Special education on-roll, full
3,168
3,194
+26
3%
Sent to other districts, regular
180
783
+603
4718%
Operations and maintenance
$4,140
$3,688
-$452
-$145
Sent to contract preschool
393
0
-393
n/a
Equipment costs
$239
$6
-$233
-$77
Classroom supplies and textbooks
$696
$485
-$211
-$23
Classroom salaries and benefits
$12,520
$12,706
+$186
+$126
Dollar rows are nominal latest-file dollars, not inflation-adjusted trend dollars. "Op. equiv." is the row change as a share of this district’s proposed operating budget; the peer average uses Union County districts with usable rows, so it is a scale comparison rather than an additive accounting bridge. Pupil-cost rows use NJDOE-published per-pupil lines, and enrollment rows are UFB planning enrollment, not fall enrollment.
Proposal package
The material named-row proposal scan has a net reduction of -$156,171,981. The largest family in the package is Other named rows, with $15,219,760 of increases and $59,969,520 of reductions. Reductions in the same scan total $204,729,128 against $48,557,147 of increases.
Budget family
Increases
Reductions
Net scan
Peer net
Largest rows
Other named rows13 material named rows
$15,219,7602% of op. scale
$59,969,5209% of op. scale
-$44,749,760-7 pts of op. scale
-5 ptsUnion County average
Total Revenues from State Sources (Revenue, line 520, +$14,160,035)Adjustment for Prior Year Encumbrances (Revenue, line 710, -$14,372,916)
Special revenue funds2 material named rows
$00% of op. scale
$42,795,0586% of op. scale
-$42,795,058-6 pts of op. scale
-2 ptsUnion County average
No material increase in this family.Total Special Revenue Funds (Appropriation, line 88760, -$21,397,529)
Federal grants7 material named rows
$00% of op. scale
$33,120,7655% of op. scale
-$33,120,765-5 pts of op. scale
-3 ptsUnion County average
No material increase in this family.Total Federal Projects (Appropriation, line 88740, -$12,203,175)
State aid6 material named rows
$19,445,8973% of op. scale
$21,900,5983% of op. scale
-$2,454,7010 pts of op. scale
-2 ptsUnion County average
Equalization Aid (Revenue, line 460, +$19,445,897)Total State Projects (Appropriation, line 88200, -$9,372,913)
Capital, facilities, and debt2 material named rows
$00% of op. scale
$15,450,8222% of op. scale
-$15,450,822-2 pts of op. scale
-12 ptsUnion County average
No material increase in this family.Total Capital Outlay (Appropriation, line 76400, -$11,122,967)
Plant, operations, and maintenance1 material named row
$00% of op. scale
$12,052,8222% of op. scale
-$12,052,822-2 pts of op. scale
0 ptsUnion County average
No material increase in this family.Total Undistributed Expenditures-Operation and Maintenance of Plant S... (Appropriation, line 51120, -$12,052,822)
Fund balance and reserves2 material named rows
$00% of op. scale
$10,403,0672% of op. scale
-$10,403,067-2 pts of op. scale
-3 ptsUnion County average
No material increase in this family.Withdrawal from Capital Reserve for Excess Cost and Other Capital Pro... (Revenue, line 620, -$7,730,075)
Preschool3 material named rows
$00% of op. scale
$6,069,459<1% of op. scale
-$6,069,459-1 pt of op. scale
+1 ptUnion County average
No material increase in this family.Total Preschool Education Aid (Appropriation, line 87100, -$3,387,532)
This panel groups material named UFB proposal-row movement between the revised/current and proposed columns. Dollar changes are nominal latest-file dollars. Increases, reductions, and net scan values are a reporting summary of contextual source rows, not a balanced accounting bridge, because UFB rows can be nested, repeated, subtotals, or outside the operating fund. Peer net is the average same-family net movement as a share of proposed operating budget among Union County districts with usable rows.
Named-line proposal drivers
This table scans the latest UFB revenue and appropriation files for named rows that changed between the revised/current-budget and proposed-budget columns. It gives the proposal story row names after the standardized summary rows above.
The largest named increase in this all-line scan is Equalization Aid, up $19,445,897 in the revenue file. The largest named reduction is Total Special Revenue Funds, down $21,397,529 in the appropriation file.
UFB row
Revised/current
Proposed
Change
Op. equiv.
Peer avg
Total Special Revenue FundsUse | Subtotal | UFB line 88760 | Acct. '
$97,762,634
$76,365,105
-$21,397,529
-3%
>-1%n=21
Total Grants and EntitlementsRevenue | Subtotal | UFB line 840 | Acct. '
Dollar changes are nominal latest-file dollars. "Op. equiv." is the row change as a share of this district's proposed operating budget. The peer average is the same source row among Union County districts with usable changed rows, not a target. Subtotal rows and detail rows can overlap, rows can move because a grant or fund section is being closed out, and these rows are evidence for reporting questions rather than an additive accounting bridge.
Budget report section
Peer evidence
Where does this district sit among local peers, named neighbors, and peer trends?
Local peer evidence
Each strip shows one generated budget measure across Union County districts. Gray dots are peer districts, the accent dot is this district, and the dashed mark is the Union County average. Each row uses its own scale so the reader can see the local distribution behind the rank and gap; higher values are not automatically better or worse.
Named peer context
These markers name the Union County districts around this district, so a rank or average can be checked against specific local districts rather than anonymous dots alone.
Comparative cost per pupil
$23,126Rank 4 of 21; +$2,402 vs Union County average.
Each measure keeps its own unit and denominator. "Next higher" and "next lower" mean numerically higher or lower on that measure, not better or worse; links open the named district budget report when available.
Local comparison roster
This roster names 23 rows in the local peer set behind averages and ranks for Union County districts. 21 have a usable NJDOE comparative-cost value; this district is 4 of 21 on that published cost line at $23,126.
This is the local comparison universe used elsewhere in this report when the Union County average is available. Comparative cost is NJDOE's published per-pupil line, not operating budget divided by enrollment. UFB on-roll is the planning-enrollment denominator, and operating budget is proposed General Fund operating scale; the funding-model column uses proposed General Fund operating revenue shares, not all-funds revenue.
Current operating mix versus peers
These stacked bars put the latest operating-budget composition beside the Union County average before the report moves into row-level trends. They answer a narrower question than the cost trend: whether this district funds or uses its operating budget differently from local peers.
Operating revenue sources
State sources: 89% here versus 28% for the county avg, a +61 pts gap.
Local sourcesState sourcesFederal sourcesFund balance / other
General Fund operating revenue sources, not all-funds revenue or tax bills. Peer bar is the unweighted average among 23 local peer rows with usable latest-year mix data.
High-level operating uses
School-based budgeting: 49% here versus 4% for the county avg, a +45 pts gap.
General current expenseSchool-based budgetingCharter / renaissance transfersCapital outlay
High-level General Fund appropriation rows; lower-level rows can be nested. Peer bar is the unweighted average among 23 local peer rows with usable latest-year mix data.
All shares use the latest proposed General Fund operating budget as the denominator. The comparison is a local peer benchmark, not a target, adequacy finding, accounting bridge, or proof that any category is discretionary.
Position over time
Measure
First peer gap
Latest peer gap
Gap movement
Comparative cost per pupil
2019-20: +$328
2025-26: +$2,402
+$2,075
Operations and maintenance per pupil
2019-20: +$589
2025-26: +$1,277
+$689
State operating revenue share
2019-20: +60 pts
2025-26: +58 pts
-2 pts
Local operating revenue share
2019-20: -60 pts
2025-26: -58 pts
+3 pts
Operating budget per UFB on-roll student
2019-20: -$16,206
2025-26: -$13,322
+$2,883
Each row tracks this district against the Union County average for a selected UFB measure. Money measures are converted to 2025 dollars; percentage measures keep their stated UFB denominators. Rows use independent zoomed axes, so compare the labeled gaps and the table rather than comparing vertical distance across different measures.
Current operating revenue mix
Local sourcesState sourcesFederal sourcesFund balance / other
This bar shows proposed General Fund operating revenue sources for the latest UFB year. It is not an all-funds revenue mix.
Budget report section
Trends and inflation
After inflation, what changed in scale, per-student cost, funding mix, and named lines?
Budget turning points
The largest surfaced annual turn is the source-family turn in 2021-22 to 2022-23. This table looks at consecutive loaded UFB years, so the question is when a budget signal changed after inflation, versus peers, or against its denominator; ordinary nominal growth stays background.
Turn
Signal
How to read it
Check next
Real per-student cost turn2023-24 to 2024-25
+$1,390Operating budget per UFB on-roll student moved +$1,390 in 2025 dollars. UFB planning on-roll moved -204 students in the same window.
This names the annual period where real operating scale per planning student moved most; it does not prove service quality, efficiency, or program cause.
+$154,636,397Federal grants moved +$154,636,397 after inflation (+25 pts of operating scale). Largest latest row: Total Federal Projects.
This groups selected UFB revenue and appropriation rows into a reporting family. Rows can be nested, so use it as a route to proof, not an additive accounting bridge.
-3 ptsContract preschool placement share moved -3 pts of UFB planning on-roll; latest share 0%.
This is a denominator and service-load signal. It can change the per-student read, but it is not by itself proof of service expansion, contraction, or need.
Annual turns compare adjacent loaded User-Friendly Budget years. Money movements are converted to 2025 dollars with BLS CPI-U annual averages; peer gaps use the same local peer trend basis as the position-over-time panel. Mixed units are intentionally kept in a table so source families, named rows, peer gaps, payer mix, and student-load signals are not read as one additive scale.
The latest 2025-26 file does not carry one clean time series. It carries two actual-cost columns, original and revised/current budget columns for the prior budget year, and the proposed-budget column. Compared with the latest actual-cost column (2023-24), the proposed comparative cost is +$1,780 in 2025 dollars. Compared with the revised/current budget column (2024-25), the proposed column is -$335 in nominal UFB dollars.
School year
UFB basis
Published comparative cost
2025 dollars
How to use it
2022-23Year 1
Actual cost
$18,426
$20,270
First actual-cost column in the latest UFB file.
2023-24Year 2
Actual cost
$20,203
$21,346
Second actual-cost column in the latest UFB file.
2024-25Year 3
Original budget
$22,825
$23,426
Original budget column for the year before the proposed budget.
2024-25Year 4
Revised/current budget
$23,461
$24,078
Revised or current budget column for the year before the proposed budget.
2025-26Year 5
Proposed budget
$23,126
$23,126
Proposed budget column for the latest UFB year.
These are NJDOE-published comparative-cost rows from the latest UFB file. The 2025-dollar column is an interpretation aid using BLS CPI-U annual averages; it does not turn original, revised/current, and proposed budget columns into audited actual spending, and it should not be mixed with the nominal revised/current-to-proposed proposal tables.
Per-student cost change anatomy
The main arithmetic driver was the budget numerator: latest real operating dollars add $2,318 per UFB on-roll student before denominator movement is applied.
+$2,729Per-student movement Operating budget per UFB on-roll moved from $21,529 to $24,258 after inflation.
+$2,318Budget numerator effect Latest real operating dollars against 2019-20 UFB on-roll isolate the budget-size effect.
+$410Enrollment denominator effect Switching to 2025-26 UFB on-roll shows whether enrollment amplified or dampened the change.
Local peer gap. Operating per UFB on-roll was -$13,322 versus the Union County average in 2025-26; the gap moved +$2,883 since 2019-20.
Arithmetic bridge
Step
Per-student value
Interpretation
Starting point, 2019-20
$21,529
Real operating budget divided by first-year UFB on-roll.
Budget numerator effect
+$2,318
Move to 2025-26 real operating dollars while holding 2019-20 UFB on-roll constant.
Enrollment denominator effect
+$410
Then move from 28,365 to 27,885 UFB on-roll students.
Ending point, 2025-26
$24,258
The district’s latest real operating budget per UFB on-roll student.
Underlying measures
Measure
2019-20
2025-26
Change
Operating budget
$610,683,003
$676,433,422
+$65,750,419 11%
UFB on-roll planning enrollment
28,365
27,885
-480 -2%
Operating per UFB on-roll
$21,529
$24,258
+$2,729
Union County average op. per UFB on-roll
$37,735
$37,580
-$155
NJDOE comparative cost per pupil
$20,923
$23,126
+$2,203
Named rows to check against the numerator
The numerator effect is a net scale check. These are the largest inflation-adjusted named UFB row movements to inspect against it; rows can be contextual or nested.
UFB row
2019-20
2025-26
Real change
Equalization AidRevenue
$424,134,204
$522,908,752
+$98,774,548
Total Tax LevyRevenue
$75,321,296
$59,813,124
-$15,508,172
Total State ProjectsAppropriation
$63,873,078
$49,830,767
-$14,042,311
Total Personal Services-Employee BenefitsAppropriation
$35,889,397
$49,636,486
+$13,747,089
This is arithmetic decomposition, not causal modeling. It uses proposed operating budget converted to 2025 dollars and UFB on-roll planning enrollment. Operating budget per UFB on-roll is a scale check; it does not replace NJDOE’s published comparative-cost line, and UFB planning enrollment can differ from fall enrollment.
Operating funding shift
Operating-source movement is mixed. State sources moved from 84% to 89% of proposed operating funding, +5 pts from 2019-20 to 2025-26. In the latest file, the biggest local peer gap was state sources, +61 pts versus the Union County average.
Mixed shiftFunding-model signalClassification from first-to-latest operating-source share movement.
+5 ptsLargest share movementState sources, share of proposed operating budget.
+$87,873,845Largest real-dollar movementState sources, converted to 2025 dollars.
+61 ptsLatest local peer gapState sources, this district minus the Union County average.
Local sourcesState sourcesFederal sourcesFund balance / other
Operating source
2019-20 share
2025-26 share
Share move
Real source move
Union County average
Latest peer gap
State sources
84%
89%
+5 pts
+$87,873,845
28%
+61 pts
Local sources
13%
9%
-3 pts
-$13,548,402
67%
-58 pts
Fund balance / other
3%
2%
-1 pt
-$7,272,890
1%
+1 pt
Federal sources
<1%
<1%
0 pts
-$1,302,134
1%
-1 pt
Operating revenue here means General Fund operating revenue in the UFB summary, not all-funds revenue. Shares use each UFB year's proposed operating budget as the denominator; real-dollar movement converts source dollars to 2025 dollars with CPI-U. The fund balance / other bucket is a funding-model signal, while named fund-balance, reserve, and carryover source rows are separated in the source-history panel below.
Loaded-year budget ledger
From 2019-20 to 2025-26, operating budget +$65,750,419; operating per on-roll +$2,729 in 2025 dollars.
Year
Operating budget
UFB on-roll
Op./on-roll
Peer op./on-roll
Comparative cost
Peer comp. cost
Funding mix
Largest use
2019-20
$610,683,003
28,365
$21,529
$37,735
$20,923
$20,595
local 13% / state 84%
School-based budgeting 53%
2020-21
$629,152,039
28,960
$21,725
$40,059
$21,122
$20,817
local 12% / state 86%
School-based budgeting 54%
2021-22
$626,105,894
28,461
$21,999
$39,224
$21,176
$20,873
local 12% / state 86%
School-based budgeting 53%
2022-23
$619,348,066
27,846
$22,242
$38,601
$21,383
$20,248
local 11% / state 87%
School-based budgeting 52%
2023-24
$646,137,021
27,845
$23,205
$41,190
$22,411
$20,364
local 10% / state 88%
School-based budgeting 53%
2024-25
$679,824,122
27,641
$24,595
$43,289
$23,426
$20,798
local 9% / state 89%
General current expense 50%
2025-26
$676,433,422
27,885
$24,258
$37,580
$23,126
$20,724
local 9% / state 89%
General current expense 51%
Money columns are converted to 2025 dollars using BLS CPI-U annual averages. Peer columns use the Union County average when at least six local peer districts have usable UFB rows for that year. On-roll is UFB planning enrollment, not fall enrollment; UFB year columns mix actual-cost, revised/original-budget, and proposed-budget bases.
Fund balance and reserve source history
In the latest UFB proposal columns, named fund-balance, reserve, and carryover source rows move -$11,252,632 from current/revised to proposed (-2 pts of operating scale). Latest named source rows total $11,986,261, 2% of operating-budget scale. For scale, local, state, and federal operating-revenue summaries excluding the other/fund-balance bucket equal 98% of operating-budget scale. The named-source-row scale is -3 pts versus the Union County average. After inflation, the named-source-row total changed -$7,673,549 from 2019-20 to 2025-26 (-1 pt of operating scale). Largest latest row: Budgeted fund balance, $10,950,000. Largest proposal-column movement: Capital reserve withdrawals, -$7,730,075.
Budgeted fund balance
How much of the operating budget is supported by prior-year balance?
Latest source$10,950,0002% op. equiv.Peer avg4%-2 pts vs peersProposal move$00 pts vs currentReal movement-$7,272,890-1 pt op. shift
Latest source rowLine 580; current/revised $10,950,000 to proposed $10,950,000
Budgeted fund balance is a planned source row. It is not, by itself, proof of a structural deficit or a cash-balance claim.
Capital reserve withdrawals
Are reserve withdrawals supporting capital projects or excess costs?
Latest source$00% op. equiv.Peer avg<1%0 pts vs peersProposal move-$7,730,075-1 pt vs currentReal movement$00 pts op. shift
Latest source rowLine 620; current/revised $7,730,075 to proposed $0
This is a named UFB revenue-source row, not a recurring operating-revenue stream.
Preschool aid carryover
Is prior-year preschool aid carryover supporting this budget year?
Latest source$1,036,261<1% op. equiv.Peer avg<1%0 pts vs peersProposal move-$849,5650 pts vs currentReal movement-$400,6590 pts op. shift
Latest source rowLine 755; current/revised $1,885,826 to proposed $1,036,261
Preschool carryover is program-restricted context and can sit outside the ordinary local/state operating-revenue story.
Maintenance reserve withdrawal
Is the budget drawing on maintenance reserve for the proposal?
Latest source$00% op. equiv.Peer avg<1%0 pts vs peersProposal move-$2,672,9920 pts vs currentReal movement$00 pts op. shift
Latest source rowLine 630; current/revised $2,672,992 to proposed $0
Maintenance reserve rows are restricted-source context and should be read with facilities and capital rows.
Rows are named UFB revenue-source rows for fund balance, reserve withdrawals, and carryover. They are contextual source rows, not audited cash, recurring revenue, an additive funding bridge, or proof of structural imbalance. Latest source and peer average are scaled to each district's proposed operating budget. Proposal movement uses the latest UFB current/revised and proposed columns. Real movement compares 2019-20 with 2025-26 in 2025 dollars, with operating-equivalent shares using each year's proposed operating budget. Peer avg is the Union County average where at least six local peer districts have usable revenue rows.
Named-line history evidence
Equalization Aid
Revenue row · mostly rising in real dollars
2019-20$424.1M69% op.
2020-21$450.4M72% op.
2021-22$452.1M72% op.
2022-23$459.7M74% op.
2023-24$490.4M76% op.
2024-25$516.7M76% op.
2025-26$522.9M77% op.
Total Tax Levy
Revenue row · mostly falling in real dollars
2019-20$75.3M12% op.
2020-21$74.4M12% op.
2021-22$71.1M11% op.
2022-23$65.8M11% op.
2023-24$63.2M10% op.
2024-25$61.4M9% op.
2025-26$59.8M9% op.
Total State Projects
Appropriation row · mostly falling in real dollars
2019-20$63.9M10% op.
2020-21$62.4M10% op.
2021-22$60.4M10% op.
2022-23$55.8M9% op.
2023-24$56.8M9% op.
2024-25$54.7M8% op.
2025-26$49.8M7% op.
Total Preschool Education Aid
Appropriation row · mostly falling in real dollars
2019-20$62.2M10% op.
2020-21$60.9M10% op.
2021-22$59.4M9% op.
2022-23$55.2M9% op.
2023-24$56.1M9% op.
2024-25$54.1M8% op.
2025-26$49.3M7% op.
Preschool Education Aid
Revenue row · mostly falling in real dollars
2019-20$56.0M9% op.
2020-21$54.8M9% op.
2021-22$52.9M8% op.
2022-23$49.4M8% op.
2023-24$50.3M8% op.
2024-25$45.1M7% op.
2025-26$42.9M6% op.
Total Special Revenue Funds
Appropriation row · peaked in 2022-23
2019-20$84.8M14% op.
2020-21$90.4M14% op.
2021-22$82.8M13% op.
2022-23$144.6M23% op.
2023-24$109.0M17% op.
2024-25$99.5M15% op.
2025-26$76.4M11% op.
Rows are selected from the strongest contextual named-line movers in this district report. Amounts are converted to 2025 dollars; the smaller note in each year is the row as a share of that year's proposed operating budget. A $0 cell means the source row had no positive proposed amount in that loaded UFB year. Rows are source-file evidence and can be nested, so they should not be added together.
Operating revenue mix over time
Local sourcesState sourcesFund balance / other
Each stacked bar shows operating revenue sources as a share of that UFB year’s proposed operating budget. The categories are operating-fund sources, not all-funds revenue. UFB year columns mix actual-cost, revised/original-budget, and proposed-budget bases, so use the bars as a structural trend, not an audited year-over-year bridge.
Operating use mix over time
General current expenseSchool-based budgeting
Each stacked bar shows high-level General Fund appropriation rows as shares of that UFB year’s proposed operating budget. The chart uses only rows that can be treated as high-level operating uses; detailed rows below are nested and non-additive. UFB year columns mix actual-cost, revised/original-budget, and proposed-budget bases, so use the bars as a structural trend, not an audited year-over-year bridge.
This districtUnion County average
Budget report section
Categories and lines
Which spending categories, budget families, and source rows are large or unusual?
Budget family context matrix
Largest current family signal: State aid, $652,082,434 or 96% of operating-budget scale. Largest real movement: State aid, +$71,277,679 from 2019-20 to 2025-26. Widest peer gap: State aid, 64 pts above the Union County average.
Family and source row
Latest scale
Peer gap
Real movement
State aid10 latest rowsLargest latest rowEqualization AidRevenue line 460 · $522,908,752
96%$652,082,434
+64 ptspeer avg 32%
+$71,277,679+1 pt op. shift
General current expense1 latest rowsLargest latest rowTotal General Current ExpenseAppropriation line 72260 · $343,732,710
51%$343,732,710
-42 ptspeer avg 93%
+$59,159,721+4 pts op. shift
School-based budgeting2 latest rowsLargest latest rowGeneral Fund Contribution to School Based BudgetingAppropriation line 84020 · $329,625,339
50%$338,625,335
+46 ptspeer avg 4%
+$5,464,502-4 pts op. shift
Local taxes and local sources3 latest rowsLargest latest rowTotal Tax LevyRevenue line 100/114 · $59,813,124
9%$62,420,963
-51 ptspeer avg 60%
-$14,924,023-3 pts op. shift
Special revenue funds2 latest rowsLargest latest rowTotal Special Revenue FundsAppropriation line 88760 · $76,365,105
Employee benefits1 latest rowsLargest latest rowTotal Personal Services-Employee BenefitsAppropriation line 71260 · $49,636,486
7%$49,636,486
-10 ptspeer avg 18%
+$13,747,089+1 pt op. shift
Federal grants11 latest rowsLargest latest rowTotal Federal ProjectsAppropriation line 88740 · $26,166,173
10%$67,888,475
+6 ptspeer avg 4%
+$15,875,297+2 pts op. shift
Plant, operations, and maintenance1 latest rowsLargest latest rowTotal Undistributed Expenditures-Operation and Maintenance of Plant ServicesAppropriation line 51120 · $81,232,401
12%$81,232,401
+3 ptspeer avg 9%
+$17,409,525+2 pts op. shift
This matrix ranks the highest-signal UFB families for this district. Latest scale is 2025-26 source-row dollars divided by proposed operating budget; peer gap uses the same denominator against the Union County average; real movement compares 2019-20 with 2025-26 in 2025 dollars. Bars are scaled separately within each metric column. Families are contextual, nested source-row groups, not an additive accounting schedule.
Named family peer context
This names the local districts nearest this district on selected source-family shares, so category claims can be checked against specific peers rather than only the Union County average.
Family and source row
This district
Named local checks
Local range
State aidWhich aid lines explain dependence on state funding or first-to-latest movement?Equalization AidRevenue line 460; $522,908,752
96%$652,082,434; rank 2 of 23+64 pts vs Union County average (32%)
Plainfield City97% to Morris-Union Jointure Com0%Includes aid rows other than preschool-specific rows, which are separated because they often move as a program block.
School-based budgetingDo school-level allocations show up as a material budgeting model or comparison slice?General Fund Contribution to School Based BudgetingAppropriation line 84020; $329,625,339
50%$338,625,335; rank 1 of 23+46 pts vs Union County average (4%)
Elizabeth City50% to Berkeley Heights Twp0%School-based budgeting rows are allocation signals; they can overlap with lower-level program and staffing rows.
General current expenseHow much of the operating story sits in the broad current-expense row before lower-level categories are inspected?Total General Current ExpenseAppropriation line 72260; $343,732,710
51%$343,732,710; rank 22 of 23-42 pts vs Union County average (93%)
Winfield Twp100% to Plainfield City43%General current expense is a high-level operating row; lower-level rows inside it can overlap and should not be added back to it.
Local taxes and local sourcesHow much of the budget story is local levy, tuition, fees, or miscellaneous local revenue?Total Tax LevyRevenue line 100/114; $59,813,124
9%$62,420,963; rank 22 of 23-51 pts vs Union County average (60%)
Instruction programsWhich classroom or instructional program rows define the core spending structure?Total Regular Programs-InstructionAppropriation line 3200; $40,574,107
9%$57,920,713; rank 20 of 23-20 pts vs Union County average (29%)
Shares use 2025-26 source-family dollars divided by each district’s proposed operating budget. "Next higher" and "next lower" are numerically higher or lower on that same share, not better or worse. Families are contextual, nested UFB source-row groups, so read named peers as reporting checks rather than an additive accounting schedule.
Category history and peer scale
School-based budgeting sits 45 pts above the Union County average. General current expense changed +$59,159,721 in real dollars from 2019-20 to 2025-26.
Budget category
Layer
Latest amount
Latest op. equiv.
Peer avg
Share change
Real $ change
General current expense
High-level operating use
$343,732,710
51%
93%
+4 pts
+$59,159,721
School-based budgeting
High-level operating use
$329,625,339
49%
4%
-4 pts
+$4,606,250
Charter / Renaissance transfers
High-level operating use
$1,756,641
<1%
1%
0 pts
+$1,331,925
Capital outlay
High-level operating use
$1,285,732
<1%
2%
0 pts
+$661,080
Core instruction rows
Nested cost row
$45,696,942
7%
32%
+1 pt
+$8,291,421
Student supports and services
Nested cost row
$47,336,384
7%
8%
+1 pt
+$8,330,255
Instruction tuition
Nested cost row
$38,378,419
6%
8%
-1 pt
-$4,722,256
Administration and central services
Nested cost row
$24,182,078
4%
7%
0 pts
+$1,465,926
Operations and maintenance
Nested cost row
$81,232,401
12%
9%
+2 pts
+$17,409,525
Student transportation
Nested cost row
$34,016,563
5%
7%
+1 pt
+$8,107,764
Employee benefits
Nested cost row
$49,636,486
7%
18%
+1 pt
+$13,747,089
Special Revenue Funds
Outside-operating scale
$76,365,105
11%
6%
-3 pts
-$8,397,165
Debt Service Funds
Outside-operating scale
$0
0%
2%
0 pts
$0
Rows mix high-level operating uses, nested lower-level cost rows, and outside-operating scale rows, so do not add them. Latest op. equiv., peer avg, and share change use proposed operating budget as the denominator. Real-dollar change is from 2019-20 to 2025-26 in 2025 dollars. Peer avg is the Union County average where at least six local peer districts have usable UFB rows.
Budget family lens
Largest family-level source-row signal: State aid, $652,082,434 or 96% of operating-budget scale. Largest first-to-latest real movement: State aid, +$71,277,679 in 2025 dollars. Widest local peer gap: State aid, 64 pts above the Union County average on the same operating-scale basis.
State aid
Which aid lines explain dependence on state funding or first-to-latest movement?
Largest latest rowUndistributed Expenditures–Other Support Services, Students–Extraordinary ServicesAppropriation line 41080 · '11-000-217-XX · $28,161,657
Rows can mix instruction, support services, and placement-related services.
Transportation
Is transportation a visible cost or aid signal relative to other districts?
Largest latest rowTotal Before/After School ProgramsAppropriation line 19620 · '11-421-XXX-XX · $3,252,576
A catch-all for contextual rows that do not fit the named families above.
This groups contextual UFB revenue and appropriation rows into the same reader-facing families used by the statewide budget explorer. Latest scale uses 2025-26 proposed source-row dollars divided by proposed operating budget; real movement compares 2019-20 with 2025-26 in 2025 dollars. Peer avg is the Union County average where at least six local peer districts have usable UFB rows. Families are reporting lenses over nested source rows, not additive accounting schedules.
Budget lines that moved
UFB row
Type
2019-20
2025-26
Real change
Op. share change
Equalization Aid
Revenue
$424,134,204
$522,908,752
+$98,774,548
+8 pts
Total Revenues from State Sources (520)
Revenue
$513,517,804
$601,391,649
+$87,873,845
+5 pts
Total General Current Expense
Appropriation
$284,572,989
$343,732,710
+$59,159,721
+4 pts
Total Undistributed Expenditures
Appropriation
$238,575,373
$288,324,384
+$49,749,011
+4 pts
Total Tax Levy
Revenue
$75,321,296
$59,813,124
-$15,508,172
-3 pts
Total Revenues from State Sources (770)
Revenue
$59,059,940
$44,501,437
-$14,558,503
-3 pts
Total Revenues from Local Sources
Revenue
$77,439,432
$63,891,030
-$13,548,402
-3 pts
General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting
Appropriation
$325,019,089
$329,625,339
+$4,606,250
-4 pts
Total State Projects
Appropriation
$63,873,078
$49,830,767
-$14,042,311
-3 pts
Total Preschool Education Aid
Appropriation
$62,220,486
$49,290,331
-$12,930,155
-3 pts
Ranked contextual UFB revenue and appropriation rows by movement from 2019-20 to 2025-26. Amounts are inflation-adjusted to 2025 dollars using BLS CPI-U annual averages. Rows are selected and often nested, so they do not add to a complete budget; the UFB year columns also mix actual-cost, revised/original-budget, and proposed-budget bases.
Budget report section
Costs and students
Which denominator, service-load, need, labor, and pupil-cost rows change the per-student read?
Cost basis reconciliation
The cost story changes by basis: NJDOE comparative cost is $23,126, $2,402 above the Union County average, while operating budget per UFB on-roll is $24,258, $13,322 below the Union County average. A rank claim should name which numerator and denominator produced it.
Per-student basis
This district
Local peer read
What it means
NJDOE comparative cost per pupil
$23,126
$2,402 above the Union County average; Union County average: $20,724; rank 4 of 21.
Published NJDOE comparative-cost line. The report does not recompute it from operating dollars or enrollment.
Operating budget per UFB on-roll
$24,258
$13,322 below the Union County average; Union County average: $37,580; rank 10 of 23.
Proposed General Fund operating budget divided by UFB planning on-roll. This is a scale check, not the NJDOE comparative-cost line.
Operating budget per fall-enrolled student
$25,327
$1,098 below the Union County average; Union County average: $26,425; rank 13 of 23.
Proposed operating budget divided by NJDOE fall enrollment on the district profile. The local average is aggregate-weighted so tiny fall denominators do not dominate; this does not replace NJDOE’s cost metric.
All-funds net spending per UFB on-roll
$26,805
$13,060 below the Union County average; Union County average: $39,865; rank 9 of 23.
All-funds net spending divided by UFB planning on-roll. Includes outside-operating rows such as grants, debt, or capital and should not be read as recurring operating cost.
Tax levy per UFB on-roll
$2,145
$12,236 below the Union County average; Union County average: $14,381; rank 21 of 21.
Local funding pressure per planning student. This is not a spending-cost metric and is not tax-bill advice.
Use this panel before comparing per-pupil figures: the same district can look high, low, or ordinary depending on whether the report is using NJDOE comparative cost, operating budget, fall enrollment, all-funds totals, or tax levy.
Student flow and money path
The budget route map puts the cost question into reader terms: school-based budgeting accounts for 49% of operating dollars; sent placements equal 4% of UFB on-roll. Dollar rows use operating-budget shares; student-flow rows use UFB planning-enrollment shares, so the table keeps the evidence separate instead of adding it together.
Path
Latest scale
Local peer read
Read as
General current expense
$343.7 million (51% of operating)
42 pts below the Union County average; Union County average: 93%; rank 22 of 23.
The broad district-run operating base. Lower-level instructional, support, benefits, operations, and administrative rows can sit inside or beside this accounting path.
School-based budgeting
$329.6 million (49% of operating)
45 pts above the Union County average; Union County average: 4%; rank 1 of 23.
A published school-resource allocation path, where present. It is not an added cost on top of the same operating budget without reading the source rows.
Charter / Renaissance transfers
$1.8 million (<1% of operating)
1 pt below the Union County average; Union County average: 1%; rank 5 of 23.
Operating dollars routed to charter or Renaissance rows. Read beside resident enrollment, district-run enrollment, and charter/Renaissance context before making a classroom-spending claim.
Special-education planning load
3,196 (11% of UFB on-roll)
7 pts below the Union County average; Union County average: 18%; rank 18 of 23.
A UFB planning-enrollment load, not a fall-enrollment count. Use with pupil-cost rows, tuition, transportation, staffing, and services before assigning a cost gap to one cause.
Sent placements
1,116 (4% of UFB on-roll)
3 pts below the Union County average; Union County average: 7%; rank 8 of 20.
A count path for students budgeted outside the district-run on-roll setting. Follow the tuition, transportation, special-services, and placement rows; do not add this count to dollars.
This panel is a reporting map for Union County districts comparisons: dollar paths use proposed General Fund operating-budget scale, while service paths use UFB planning-enrollment rows. It does not claim that these rows add to one total.
Fall enrollment and student need
This section keeps the student denominator beside the budget rows: UFB planning enrollment, fall enrollment, per-student scale checks, and latest fall-enrollment need rows for the same local peer frame.
82%Student needThe free/reduced-price lunch share is 82% of fall enrollment, +33 pts versus the Union County average. Local rank is 1 of 24.
+1,177Enrollment basisUFB planning on-roll is 27,885, while fall enrollment is 26,708. Cost rows in the UFB report use planning-enrollment bases; the fall row is context for the students counted on the district profile.
$25,327Fall-student scaleOperating budget per fall-enrolled student is $1,098 below the Union County average. Local rank is 13 of 23.
Denominator context
Measure
This district
Local context
Read as
Fall enrollment
26,708
28% of peer fall enrollment
NJDOE fall enrollment count used on the district profile.
UFB planning on-roll
27,885
104% of fall enrollment
+1,177 versus fall
Operating budget per UFB on-roll
$24,258
$37,580
$13,322 below the Union County average
Operating budget per fall-enrolled student
$25,327
$26,425
$1,098 below the Union County average
Student-need context
Fall row
Count
Share
Local avg / rank
Gap
Free/reduced-price lunch
22,029
82%
50% · rank 1 of 24
+33 pts
Multilingual learners
11,050
41%
21% · rank 2 of 23
+21 pts
Students experiencing homelessness
171
<1%
<1% · rank 5 of 23
0 pts
Fall rows come from NJDOE Fall Enrollment; UFB on-roll rows come from the NJDOE User-Friendly Budget enrollment file. Operating budget per fall-enrolled student is a scale check for interpretation, not a replacement for NJDOE's published comparative-cost measure.
Service-load and denominator history
Latest UFB planning on-roll is 27,885. From 2019-20 to 2025-26, that denominator changed -480 (-1.7%). Latest planning-load shares: special education 11%, sent placements 4% of UFB on-roll. Largest latest service-load category: Special-education on-roll, 11% of on-roll. Largest count movement: Contract preschool, -744.
Special-education on-roll
How much of the UFB planning denominator is special education?
Latest load3,19611% of on-rollPeer avg19%-8 pts vs peersCount movement+226+1 pt on-roll shift
Latest source rowsfull: 3,194; shared: 2
This is a planning-enrollment row, not a fall enrollment special-education count.
Net interdistrict flow
Is the district a net sender or receiver in other-district planning rows?
Latest load-942-3% of on-rollPeer avg3%-7 pts vs peersCount movement-570-2 pts on-roll shift
Latest source rowssent to other districts: 942
Received-from-other-district minus sent-to-other-district rows; private and preschool placements are separate.
Sent placements
How many students are budgeted outside the district-run setting?
Latest load1,1164% of on-rollPeer avg6%-2 pts vs peersCount movement-214-1 pt on-roll shift
Latest source rowsprivate: 157; other districts: 942; state facilities: 17
Combines private school, contract preschool, sent-to-other-district, and state-facility planning rows.
Sent to other districts
Does the district budget a large regular or special-education outflow to other districts?
Latest load9423% of on-rollPeer avg6%-2 pts vs peersCount movement+570+2 pts on-roll shift
Latest source rowsregular: 783; special ed: 159
Combines regular and special-education sent-to-other-district UFB planning rows.
Received from other districts
Is this district serving students from outside its resident base?
Latest load00% of on-rollPeer avg9%-9 pts vs peersCount movement+00 pts on-roll shift
Contract preschool rows can move sharply between current and proposed UFB columns.
Rows use the UFB budget-enrollment planning file across loaded years, not NJDOE fall enrollment. Latest load and peer average are scaled to each district's UFB planning on-roll. Count movement compares 2019-20 with 2025-26. Peer avg is the Union County average where at least six local peer districts have usable planning rows. These rows explain the cost denominator and service-load context; they do not replace NJDOE's published comparative-cost measure.
Labor, benefits, and listed salaries
This section pulls together salary-bearing pupil-cost rows, the employee-benefits appropriation row, and the selected administrative salary side file so labor-cost signals can be read before the raw source tables.
$3.5 millionAdministrative salary fileThe UFB salary side file lists 24 selected administrative base-salary rows; highest listed role is Business Administrator: Board Secretary at $287,568.
7%Benefits rowEmployee benefits are 7% of operating-budget scale, 10 pts below the Union County average; local rank 23 of 23.
$12,706Salary-bearing cost rowClassroom salaries and benefits is $1,273 above the Union County average.
31.17%Benefit loadNJDOE reports benefits at 31.17% of salaries, 3 pts below the Union County average.
Salary and benefit pupil-cost rows
NJDOE pupil-cost row
This district
Peer avg
Gap
Classroom salaries and benefits
$12,706
$11,433
+$1,273
Support services salaries and benefits
$3,190
$3,104
+$86
Operations and maintenance salaries and benefits
$2,042
$1,235
+$807
Administration salaries and benefits
$1,484
$1,610
-$126
Benefits as % of salaries
31.17%
34.52%
-3 pts
Operating and side-file context
Measure
This district
Local context
Read as
Employee benefits appropriation row
$49.6 million · 7%
18% peer avg; 10 pts below the Union County average
Named UFB appropriation row, scaled to the operating budget.
Benefits as a share of salaries
31.17%
34.52% peer avg; 3 pts below the Union County average
NJDOE pupil-cost row, not an appropriation amount.
Listed administrative base salaries
$3.5 million · $125 per UFB on-roll
$1,129 peer avg; rank 23 of 23
24 selected UFB salary rows.
Highest listed administrative base salary
$287,568
$222,184 peer avg; rank 1 of 23
Business Administrator: Board Secretary
Salary and benefits rows can overlap with broader NJDOE pupil-cost totals and nested UFB appropriation rows. Administrative salary rows are selected UFB-listed roles with district-reported FTE/shared-service fields; they are not full payroll and should not be added to pupil-cost salary rows. Peer averages use Union County districts with usable latest-year UFB rows.
Pupil-cost category movement
NJDOE comparative cost moved +$2,203 per pupil after inflation from 2019-20 to 2025-26. The largest CPI-adjusted standardized pupil-cost row movement was operations and maintenance, +$715 per pupil from 2019-20 to 2025-26. In the latest file, the largest local peer gap among these rows was operations and maintenance, +$1,277 versus the Union County average.
+$2,203Comparative-cost movementNJDOE’s published comparative-cost line, converted to real dollars across loaded UFB years.
+$715Largest category movementOperations and maintenance, after CPI adjustment.
+$1,277Largest latest peer gapOperations and maintenance, above the Union County average.
NJDOE pupil-cost row
2019-20 real
2025-26 real
Real movement
Union County average
Latest gap
Operations and maintenance
$2,973
$3,688
+$715
$2,411
+$1,277
Classroom salaries and benefits
$11,992
$12,706
+$714
$11,433
+$1,273
Support services
$3,113
$3,797
+$684
$3,661
+$136
Classroom instruction
$12,793
$13,452
+$659
$12,192
+$1,260
Classroom purchased services
$450
$262
-$188
$349
-$87
Administrative costs
$1,776
$1,913
+$137
$1,981
-$68
Classroom supplies and textbooks
$350
$485
+$135
$409
+$76
Legal costs
$97
$75
-$22
$42
+$33
Equipment costs
$21
$6
-$15
$103
-$97
Extracurricular costs
$179
$184
+$5
$426
-$242
First-to-latest movement uses NJDOE standardized pupil-cost rows converted to 2025 dollars with CPI-U. The Union County average and latest gap columns use latest-year UFB per-pupil values for the same rows. Several rows are subcomponents of broader totals, so this is a category-movement screen, not an additive budget bridge.
NJDOE pupil-cost breakdown
Pupil-cost line
This district
Union County average
Gap
Classroom instruction
$13,452
$12,192
+$1,260
Classroom salaries and benefits
$12,706
$11,433
+$1,273
Support services
$3,797
$3,661
+$136
Operations and maintenance
$3,688
$2,411
+$1,277
Administrative costs
$1,913
$1,981
-$68
Classroom purchased services
$262
$349
-$87
Classroom supplies and textbooks
$485
$409
+$76
Extracurricular costs
$184
$426
-$242
Equipment costs
$6
$103
-$97
Legal costs
$75
$42
+$33
Pupil-cost rows are NJDOE-published per-pupil figures for the proposed budget year, not amounts divided by enrollment on this page.
Budget enrollment and placements
UFB enrollment row
Count
Share of on-roll
On-roll, full
24,691
89%
Special education on-roll, full
3,194
11%
Sent to private school
157
<1%
Sent to other districts, regular
783
3%
Sent to other districts, special education
159
<1%
State facilities
17
<1%
On-roll, regular adult high school
80
<1%
On-roll, shared
10
<1%
Special education on-roll, shared
2
<1%
These are UFB budget-enrollment planning rows, not the fall enrollment counts used elsewhere on the profile.
Budget report section
Comparison matrix
Which tax basis, tax effort, averages, ranks, and gaps shape the comparison?
Tax basis reconciliation
The UFB summary tax levy and the esttax total-school levy are close on this file ($59,813,124 versus $59,813,124). The esttax file has one districtwide tax-rate slice. Those bases are kept separate below before any local-burden comparison.
$59.8 millionSummary operating levyUsed for UFB levy per planning student and levy share of operating budget.
$59.8 millionesttax total-school levymatches summary levy
Equalized-value rate basis for cross-municipality comparison.
Taxable assessed value
$15.9 billion
n/a
Oct. 1, 2024
Assessed valuation denominator for source tax-rate rows.
Equalized value
$15.0 billion
n/a
Oct. 1, 2024
Equalized valuation denominator used to compare tax bases across municipalities.
This panel reconciles the UFB summary tax levy with the esttax side-file levy, rate, and valuation bases. Rates are estimates per $100 of valuation. Taxable assessed value is the local assessed-value denominator; equalized value is the state-adjusted valuation used for cross-municipality comparison. Valuation dates travel with the source rows. The table is local-burden context for reporting, not tax-bill advice or audited property-tax data.
Tax effort and tax base
Mixed tax context. Tax levy per UFB on-roll was $2,145, -$12,236 versus the Union County average. The estimated school-tax rate was 0.3976 per $100, -1.1102 versus the Union County average. Equalized value per UFB on-roll was -$912,932 versus the Union County average.
MixedTax-context signalGenerated from UFB tax levy, planning enrollment, and estimated tax-rate side rows.
$2,145Levy per UFB on-roll-$12,236 versus Union County average; rank 21 of 21.
0.3976Estimated rate-1.1102 versus Union County average; equalized value weighted.
$539,524Equalized basePer UFB on-roll; -$912,932 versus Union County average.
Measure
This district
Union County average
Gap
Local rank
Basis
Tax levy per UFB on-roll
$2,145
$14,381
-$12,236
21 of 21
UFB summary tax levy divided by UFB on-roll planning enrollment.
Tax levy / operating budget
9%
61%
-53 pts
21 of 21
UFB summary tax levy divided by proposed operating budget.
Estimated school-tax rate
0.3976
1.5078
-1.1102
20 of 20
UFB esttax side-file rows; equalized value weighted.
Equalized value per UFB on-roll
$539,524
$1,452,456
-$912,932
18 of 20
Total equalized value from plausible UFB esttax rows divided by UFB on-roll.
Municipal rate spread
0
0.0009
-0.0009
2 of 23
Highest minus lowest plausible estimated rate across municipal/regional slices.
Estimated tax-rate slices
Slice
Displayed rate
Equalized rate
Total levy
Equalized value
Elizabeth City
0.3976
0.3976
$59.8 million
$15.0 billion
Tax levy per UFB on-roll comes from the UFB summary tax levy and planning enrollment. Estimated tax rates and equalized values come from the UFB esttax side file, use plausible rate rows only, and are shown per $100 of valuation. This is tax-base context for budget reporting, not tax-bill advice or audited property-tax data.
Budget measures that stand out locally
Measure
This district
Peer avg
Gap
Rank
Listed admin base salaries per UFB on-roll student
$125
$1,129
-$1,004
23 of 23
Tax levy per UFB on-roll student
$2,145
$14,381
-$12,236
21 of 21
State operating revenue share
89%
31%
+58 pts
1 of 21
Local operating revenue share
9%
67%
-58 pts
23 of 23
Operations and maintenance per pupil
$3,688
$2,411
+$1,277
1 of 21
Tax levy as operating-budget equivalent
9%
61%
-53 pts
21 of 21
General current expense share
51%
93%
-42 pts
22 of 23
Operating budget per UFB on-roll student
$24,258
$37,580
-$13,322
10 of 23
Peer averages and ranks compare against Union County districts with usable values for the same 2025-26 UFB measure. Rank is ordered from highest value to lowest value; higher is not automatically better or worse.
UFB lines unlike local peers
Largest line-item differences: Total Revenues from State Sources is 89%, +61 pts versus the peer average; Total Revenues from Local Sources is 9%, -58 pts versus the peer average.
UFB row
File
Amount
Op. equiv.
Peer avg
Gap
Rank
Total Revenues from State Sources
Revenue
$601,391,649
89%
28%
+61 pts
1 of 23
Total Revenues from Local Sources
Revenue
$63,891,030
9%
67%
-58 pts
23 of 23
Equalization Aid
Revenue
$522,908,752
77%
21%
+57 pts
2 of 23
Total Tax Levy
Revenue
$59,813,124
9%
56%
-47 pts
21 of 23
General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting
Appropriation
$329,625,339
49%
4%
+45 pts
1 of 23
Total General Current Expense
Appropriation
$343,732,710
51%
93%
-42 pts
22 of 23
Total Undistributed Expenditures
Appropriation
$288,324,384
43%
59%
-16 pts
22 of 23
Total Regular Programs-Instruction
Appropriation
$40,574,107
6%
22%
-16 pts
19 of 23
Total Personal Services-Employee Benefits
Appropriation
$49,636,486
7%
18%
-10 pts
23 of 23
Total Special Education-Instruction
Appropriation
$5,122,835
<1%
7%
-7 pts
21 of 23
Total Special Revenue Funds
Appropriation
$76,365,105
11%
6%
+6 pts
2 of 23
Total Grants and Entitlements
Revenue
$76,365,105
11%
6%
+6 pts
2 of 23
This scans contextual revenue and appropriation rows against Union County districts with usable 2025-26 UFB data. The operating-equivalent columns use each district’s proposed operating budget as a scale reference; peer-common rows missing from this district are treated as $0 so absences can surface. Rows remain nested and non-additive.
Budget comparison matrix
Measure
This district
Union County average
Local rank
NJ avg
NJ rank
Comparative cost per pupil
$23,126
$20,724
4 of 21
$23,591
223 of 566
Operating budget per UFB on-roll student
$24,258
$37,580
10 of 23
$39,253
371 of 578
Tax levy per UFB on-roll student
$2,145
$14,381
21 of 21
$17,835
554 of 566
Local operating revenue share
9%
67%
23 of 23
69%
588 of 595
State operating revenue share
89%
31%
1 of 21
25%
4 of 574
Federal operating revenue share
<1%
<1%
2 of 16
<1%
88 of 386
Fund balance / other operating revenue share
2%
5%
20 of 23
7%
524 of 595
Charter / Renaissance transfer share
<1%
2%
5 of 12
2%
203 of 344
School-based budgeting share
49%
n/a
n/a
42%
19 of 35
Employee benefits share
7%
18%
23 of 23
17%
560 of 586
Operations and maintenance share
12%
9%
2 of 23
9%
51 of 587
Student transportation share
5%
7%
12 of 23
6%
331 of 592
Special Revenue Funds equivalent
11%
6%
2 of 23
7%
126 of 585
Budgeted out-of-district placements share
4%
7%
8 of 20
10%
190 of 526
Special-education on-roll planning share
11%
18%
18 of 23
18%
499 of 576
Classroom instruction per pupil
$13,452
$12,192
3 of 21
$13,434
200 of 569
Support services per pupil
$3,797
$3,661
8 of 21
$4,329
316 of 569
Operations and maintenance per pupil
$3,688
$2,411
1 of 21
$2,879
87 of 569
Administrative costs per pupil
$1,913
$1,981
12 of 21
$2,270
411 of 569
Listed admin base salaries per UFB on-roll student
$125
$1,129
23 of 23
$1,366
570 of 575
Highest listed admin base salary
$287,568
$222,184
1 of 23
$199,341
10 of 580
Averages and ranks use districts with usable values for the same latest UFB year. Ranks run from highest value to lowest value, so rank 1 is not automatically better or worse.
Budget report section
Budget anatomy
How do operating sources, operating uses, all-funds totals, grants, and debt fit together?
Budget anatomy
Money in
Row
Amount
Op. share
State sources
$601.4 million
89%
Local sources
$63.9 million
9%
Fund balance / other
$10.9 million
2%
Federal sources
$200,743
<1%
Operating uses
Row
Amount
Op. share
General current expense
$343.7 million
51%
School-based budgeting
$329.6 million
49%
Charter / renaissance transfers
$1.8 million
<1%
Capital outlay
$1.3 million
<1%
Special schools
$33,000
<1%
All-funds and outside-operating rows
Row
Amount
Op. equiv.
Special Revenue Funds
$76.4 million
11%
All-funds net above operating
$71.0 million
11%
State projects
$49.8 million
7%
Preschool Education Aid
$49.3 million
7%
Federal projects
$26.2 million
4%
This anatomy starts with the proposed operating budget as the common denominator. The outside-operating column uses the same denominator only as a scale reference; those rows can include grants, debt service, capital, and nested fund sections. The dynamic tables below scan 43 positive revenue rows and 67 positive appropriation rows; 46 changed revenue rows and 69 changed appropriation rows from the latest UFB files.
Budget report section
Side files
Which tax, balance, reserve, unusual-item, shared-service, school-resource, or salary rows matter?
Side-file history
UFB year
Tax file
Balances / reserves
Notes / shared services
Resource / salary files
2019-20
tax-file levy $59.8 million; rate 0.7286
Unrestricted--General Operating Budget $9.4 million; reserve/fund-balance sources $15.6 million
6 school-resource rows; largest $529.1 million; 18 admin salary rows · $2.5 million
2020-21
tax-file levy $59.8 million; rate 0.7005
Unrestricted--General Operating Budget $9.8 million; reserve/fund-balance sources $11.1 million
none reported
6 school-resource rows; largest $562.4 million; 20 admin salary rows · $2.7 million
2021-22
tax-file levy $59.8 million; rate 0.6497
Unrestricted--General Operating Budget $9.8 million; reserve/fund-balance sources $13.9 million
none reported
6 school-resource rows; largest $575.1 million; 19 admin salary rows · $2.7 million
2022-23
tax-file levy $59.8 million; rate 0.5741
Restricted-General Operating Budget: Capita... $25.9 million; reserve/fund-balance sources $11.9 million
none reported
6 school-resource rows; largest $597.8 million; 19 admin salary rows · $2.8 million
2023-24
tax-file levy $59.8 million; rate 0.4919
Restricted-General Operating Budget: Capita... $37.8 million; reserve/fund-balance sources $12.9 million
4 shared-service rows
6 school-resource rows; largest $660.6 million; 19 admin salary rows · $2.8 million
2024-25
tax-file levy $59.8 million; rate 0.4469
Restricted-General Operating Budget: Capita... $47.5 million; reserve/fund-balance sources $12.8 million
none reported
6 school-resource rows; largest $671.3 million; 21 admin salary rows · $3.1 million
2025-26
levy $59.8 million; rate 0.3976
Restricted-General Operating Budget: Capita... $75.1 million; reserve/fund-balance sources $12.0 million
2 shared-service rows
6 school-resource rows; largest $677.3 million; 24 admin salary rows · $3.5 million
This table summarizes UFB side files across loaded years so latest-year tax, balance, unusual-item, shared-service, school-resource, and salary rows can be read in context. Recap rows, shared-service savings, and salary files are district-reported context rows, not audited operating totals.
Balance and reserve history
Latest projected close-year balances total $114,195,106, 17% of operating-budget scale. After inflation, total projected balance changed +$94,239,526 from 2019-20 to 2025-26. Restricted or named-reserve rows account for 88% of the latest projected balance. Largest latest category: Capital reserve, $75,125,771. Largest real movement: Capital reserve, +$67,049,089.
Capital reserve
How much balance is set aside for capital projects or capital expenses?
Largest latest recap rowRestricted-General Operating Budget: Unemployment Fund$4,046,415
A restricted balance row, not a recurring operating cost line.
Recap rows are UFB projected balances at the close of the budget year, not operating appropriations or a spendable-cash claim. Tiny placeholder rows below $1,000 are suppressed. Money movement compares 2019-20 with 2025-26 in 2025 dollars, and operating-equivalent shares use each year's proposed operating budget. Peer avg is the Union County average where at least six local peer districts have usable recap rows.
Taxes, reserves, and balances
Tax-rate estimate
Measure
Value
General Fund levy
$59,813,124
General Fund school-tax rate
0.376
Total school levy
$59,813,124
Total school-tax rate
0.376
Equalized total school-tax rate
0.3976
Estimated taxable valuation
$15.9 billion
Balances projected at year-end
Recap category
Projected
Vs prior audited
Restricted-General Operating Budget: Capital Reserve
Restricted-General Operating Budget: Unemployment Fund
$4.0 million
$0
Restricted-Special Revenue Fund: Scholarship Fund
$856,419
+$180,000
Reserve and fund-balance sources
Revenue row
Amount
Budgeted fund balance
$10.9 million
Preschool aid carryover
$1.0 million
Tax rates are NJDOE estimated school-tax-rate rows per $100 of valuation. Balance rows come from the UFB recapitulation file; the projected column is the estimated balance at the close of the budget year, not a spendable operating line.
Unusual items and shared-service profile
The shared-service file lists 2 arrangements with no dollar savings reported, 0 pts versus the Union County average; peer average 7.5 rows. Most visible shared-service category: transportation shared services.
Shared-service categories
Category
Rows / savings
Example arrangement
Transportation shared servicesAre transportation arrangements part of the cost story?
2 rowsno savings reported
Transportation Services, including FuelEssex County Educational Service Commission
This panel classifies the latest UFB unusual-item and shared-service side files using the same reporting categories as the statewide budget explorer. Positive unusual-item dollars can duplicate named revenue or appropriation rows elsewhere in the budget. Shared-service savings are optional district-entered context, not audited offsets to current spending. Peer comparisons use Union County districts where enough peers have usable side-file rows.
Budget notes and shared services
Shared-service entries
Category
Description
Savings
Transportation Services, including Fuel
Essex County Educational Service Commission
not reported
Transportation Services, including Fuel
Union County Educational Service Commission
not reported
Unusual items and shared services are district-reported UFB explanation rows. Shared-service savings are optional, so a listed arrangement can show no dollar amount.
School-based resource statement
This side-file appears only for districts that publish a blended-resource school-based budgeting statement. In 2025-26, the appropriation side totals $338.6 million; the resource side totals $677.3 million.
$338.6 millionAppropriation statement50% of proposed operating budget.
+$2,965,373Proposal movementrevised/current to proposed; <1% increase
65%Largest useInstruction of the school-based appropriation statement.
97%Largest resourceGeneral Fund contribution of the resource-side statement.
Resource-side rows
Row
Proposed
Vs current
Share
Resources: total school-based budget
$677.3 million
+$5,930,746
100%
General Fund contribution
$659.3 million
+$5,933,890
97%
Restricted federal entitlements
$18.0 million
-$3,144
3%
Appropriation-side rows
Row
Proposed
Vs current
Share
Appropriations: total school-based budget
$338.6 million
+$2,965,373
100%
Instruction
$218.6 million
+$1,642,916
65%
Support services
$120.1 million
+$1,322,457
35%
Scale and reporting cohort
Measure
District
Local reporting avg
State reporting median
Read as
Appropriation statement / operating budget
50%
41%
50%
How large the school-based appropriation statement is relative to the proposed operating budget.
Instruction share of school-based appropriations
65%
70%
62%
Whether the statement leans more toward instruction than the reporting cohort.
Support-services share of school-based appropriations
35%
30%
38%
Whether support services carry more of the school-based statement.
Federal share of school-based resources
3%
2%
3%
Restricted federal entitlements inside the resource-side statement.
The main UFB appropriation file reports school-based budgeting at $329.6 million; the schapp appropriation-side total is $338.6 million, a +$8,999,996 side-file difference. Local comparison uses 2 Union County districts with school-resource statement rows; statewide reporting median uses 32 districts statewide with rows. Amounts are nominal latest-file UFB dollars. The resource and appropriation sides are statement views, not a second operating budget, a complete school-level ledger, or rows to add to the operating-use charts.
Listed administrative salary history
The UFB employees side file lists selected administrative salary rows for 7 loaded budget years. Listed base salary moved from $3.1 million in 2019-20 to $3.5 million in 2025-26 in 2025 dollars (up $377,238). The selected-row count changed from 18 to 24 (+6).
$3.5 millionLatest listed base24 selected rows, shown in 2025 dollars.
24Latest listed FTE0 rows marked shared service.
$125Latest base per UFB on-rollScale check for selected listed administration only.
96Latest text term entriesPayout, buyback, comment, non-work-day, or post-employment text fields.
Loaded-year salary side-file trail
UFB year
Listed base
Rows / FTE
Highest listed role
Add-ons / terms
2019-20
$3.1 million
18 rows; FTE 18no shared rows
$295,606Harold Kennedy · Business Administrator: Board Secretary
$774,394 add-on dollar fields72 text-term field entries
2020-21
$3.3 million
20 rows; FTE 20no shared rows
$300,764Harold Kennedy Jr. · Business Administrator: Bd. Secretary
$914,249 add-on dollar fields89 text-term field entries
2021-22
$3.2 million
19 rows; FTE 19no shared rows
$287,268Harold Kennedy · Business Administrator: Board Secretary
$984,446 add-on dollar fields86 text-term field entries
2022-23
$3.0 million
19 rows; FTE 19no shared rows
$282,181Harold Kennedy Jr · Business Administrator: Board Secretary
$950,693 add-on dollar fields76 text-term field entries
2023-24
$3.0 million
19 rows; FTE 19no shared rows
$281,865Harold Kennedy Jr · Business Administrator: Board Secretary
$618,890 add-on dollar fields76 text-term field entries
2024-25
$3.2 million
21 rows; FTE 21no shared rows
$284,467Harold Kennedy Jr · Business Administrator: Board Secretary
$698,963 add-on dollar fields84 text-term field entries
2025-26
$3.5 million
24 rows; FTE 24no shared rows
$287,568Harold Kennedy · Business Administrator: Board Secretary
$713,590 add-on dollar fields96 text-term field entries
Latest local peer scale checks
Measure
This district
Union County average
Gap
Read as
Listed base per UFB on-roll
$125
$1,129
-$1,004
Selected admin base salaries divided by UFB planning on-roll.Local rank 23 of 23 among Union County districts with usable salary rows.
Listed rows per 1,000 UFB on-roll
0.9
8.8
-7.9
Selected listed administrative rows scaled to enrollment.Local rank 23 of 23 among Union County districts with usable salary rows.
Listed FTE per 1,000 UFB on-roll
0.9
8.7
-7.8
FTE field total scaled to enrollment; not district staffing headcount.Local rank 23 of 23 among Union County districts with usable salary rows.
Shared-service row share
0%
0%
0 pts
Share of selected salary rows marked shared in the side file.Local rank 1 of 23 among Union County districts with usable salary rows.
Dollar columns in the history table are converted to 2025 dollars with CPI-U. The UFB employees side file lists selected administrative salary rows, FTE/shared flags, add-on compensation fields, work/leave terms, and comments; it is not full payroll, a staffing census, total compensation, or an operating-budget category. Peer checks use the latest matched year only and rank higher numeric values first.
Listed administrative salaries
The UFB salary side file lists 24 selected administrative rows totaling $3.5 million in base salaries. It also includes district-reported add-on compensation fields, work and leave-day terms, and payout or buyback text where those fields are filled.
$3.5 millionListed base salaries24 selected administrative rows; not full payroll.
$287,568Highest listed baseHarold Kennedy · Business Administrator: Board Secretary
96 row entriesText term fieldsPayout, buyback, comment, or non-work-day text fields reported in the side file.
Compensation fields in the salary side file
Field
Reported total
Count
Largest listed row
Read as
Base salary
$3.5 million
24
$287,568 · Harold Kennedy · Business Administrator: Board Secretary
Selected listed administrative base salaries.
Post-employment benefits
$480,088
24
$40,095 · Maria Molina · Other: Staffing Assistant
District-reported post-employment benefit field.
Allowances
$132,561
10
$19,423 · Dr Olga Hugelmeyer · Superintendent
District-reported allowance field.
Bonuses
$77,939
14
$36,489 · Dr Olga Hugelmeyer · Superintendent
District-reported bonus field.
Insurance
$23,002
12
$2,000 · Rafael Cortes, Jr. · Assistant Superintendent: For Schools
District-reported insurance field.
Work and leave-day fields
Field
Median
Range
Rows
Work days
260
260 to 260
24
Vacation days
22
22 to 22
24
Sick days
13
13 to 13
24
Personal days
2
2 to 2
24
Non-work days
27
27 to 27
24
Payout, buyback, and comment text
Field group
Count
Distinct terms
Common text examples
Non-work-day note
24
1
Holidays (24 rows)
Personal-day payout
24
1
N/A (24 rows)
Sick-day payout
24
12
@ $55/Day Same as Teachers (6 rows); @ $40/Day Same as Teachers (3 rows); @ $100/Day Same as Teachers (2 rows)
Vacation-day payout
24
4
@ 260 Days (13 rows); @ 260 days (8 rows); @260 Days (2 rows)
Highest listed base-salary rows
Listed employee
Role
Base salary
FTE/shared
Harold Kennedy
Business Administrator: Board Secretary
$287,568
1
Dr Olga Hugelmeyer
Superintendent
$243,427
1
Rajeev Malhotra
Assistant Business Administrator
$227,809
1
Rafael Cortes, Jr.
Assistant Superintendent: For Schools
$226,700
1
Francisco Cuesta
Other: Chief of Operations
$224,915
1
Dr Jennifer Cedeno
Assistant Superintendent: For Teaching and Learning
$222,253
1
Judy Finch-Johnson
Assistant Superintendent: For Schools
$222,253
1
Heather Ford
Attorney: Deputy Counsel
$184,932
1
Administrative salary rows are selected listed roles from the UFB employees side file, not complete payroll, a contract audit, or an operating-budget total. Component fields are shown separately because allowances, benefits, remuneration, leave days, payouts, and comments are mixed units and can overlap in meaning. Dollar fields are nominal latest-file values. Showing the top 8 of 24 listed rows.
Budget report section
Source rows
Which visible UFB revenue and appropriation rows support the report?
UFB source-file ledger
These are the exact NJDOE User-Friendly Budget CSV files behind this report. Links open the statewide source files for 2025-26, while the row counts show how much of each file matched this district in the local warehouse.
Named levy, aid, grant, tuition, fund-balance, reserve, and other source rows behind the operating-revenue mix.Includes subtotals and non-operating context rows; it is not one additive revenue schedule.
High-level operating uses, transfers, fund totals, lower-level program rows, capital, debt, and special-revenue scale.Many rows are nested; operating-equivalent shares are scale references, not additive totals.
NJDOE standardized per-pupil cost rows used for classroom, support, operations, administration, and benefits comparisons.These are published NJDOE rows; the report does not recompute them from appropriations or enrollment.
Budget-enrollment file2019-20 to 2025-26 (7 files)
UFB on-roll, special-education on-roll, sent/received placements, contract preschool, and denominator context.Planning enrollment is not the same as fall enrollment and should not be added to dollar rows.
Projected close-year balances, reserves, restricted balances, and fund-balance context.Balance rows are not current operating appropriations or spendable-cash claims.
Estimated school-tax rates, levy slices, taxable values, equalized values, and municipal/regional spread context.Estimated tax rows are UFB context, not tax-bill advice or audited property-tax data.
District-reported shared-service arrangements and optional savings fields.Reported savings are context rows, not audited offsets against the operating budget.
School-based resource statement rows where the district publishes the side file.Rows appear only for districts that publish the statement and can overlap with other operating rows.
Selected administrative salary rows, FTE, shared-service flags, contract fields, and comments where published.Selected listed administration is not complete payroll or total compensation.
The links are source-file provenance, not district-specific extracts. Each CSV covers all districts published in that UFB file; the generated report filters those rows to this district and keeps source-family caveats attached before making comparisons.
Largest current UFB lines
UFB row
File
Amount
Operating equiv.
Total Revenues from State Sources (520)
Revenue
$601,391,649
89%
Equalization Aid
Revenue
$522,908,752
77%
Total General Current Expense
Appropriation
$343,732,710
51%
General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting
Appropriation
$329,625,339
49%
Total Undistributed Expenditures
Appropriation
$288,324,384
43%
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Operation and Maintenance of Plant Services
Appropriation
$81,232,401
12%
Total Special Revenue Funds
Appropriation
$76,365,105
11%
Total Grants and Entitlements
Revenue
$76,365,105
11%
Total Revenues from Local Sources
Revenue
$63,891,030
9%
Total Tax Levy
Revenue
$59,813,124
9%
Total State Projects
Appropriation
$49,830,767
7%
Total Personal Services-Employee Benefits
Appropriation
$49,636,486
7%
Total Preschool Education Aid
Appropriation
$49,290,331
7%
Total Revenues from State Sources (770)
Revenue
$44,501,437
7%
Preschool Education Aid
Revenue
$42,924,740
6%
Total Regular Programs-Instruction
Appropriation
$40,574,107
6%
Selected dynamically from every positive revenue and appropriation row in the latest UFB files after dropping outer totals. Rows come from different files and fund sections, so the operating-equivalent column is only a scale reference.
Main funds and transfers
UFB appropriation row
Amount
Operating equiv.
Total expenditures net of transfers
$747,469,197
111%
General Fund grand total
$676,433,422
100%
General current expense
$343,732,710
51%
School-based budgeting contribution
$329,625,339
49%
Transfer to charter schools
$1,756,641
<1%
Special Revenue Funds
$76,365,105
11%
State projects
$49,830,767
7%
Preschool Education Aid
$49,290,331
7%
Federal projects
$26,166,173
4%
Capital outlay
$1,285,732
<1%
Special schools
$33,000
<1%
Rows mix all-funds totals, General Fund rows, transfers, capital, special-revenue, and debt-service lines. The operating-equivalent column is a scale reference, not a claim that these rows add to the operating budget.
Selected operating cost lines
UFB line
Amount
Op. share
Peer avg
Operations and maintenance
$81,232,401
12%
9%
Employee benefits
$49,636,486
7%
18%
Regular programs instruction
$40,574,107
6%
22%
Instruction tuition
$38,378,419
6%
8%
Student transportation
$34,016,563
5%
7%
Student support, extraordinary services
$28,161,657
4%
1%
Improvement of instruction
$13,078,109
2%
2%
Child study teams
$9,950,658
1%
2%
Administrative information technology
$8,607,625
1%
<1%
Speech, OT, PT and related services
$7,655,023
1%
2%
Not additive: these lower-level appropriation rows add texture, but they are nested inside broader fund categories and should not be added together as a complete budget mix.
Selected revenue lines
UFB revenue row
Amount
Op. share
Peer avg
Equalization aid
$522,908,752
77%
21%
Total tax levy
$59,813,124
9%
56%
Preschool Education Aid
$42,924,740
6%
3%
Special education aid
$27,384,456
4%
5%
Title I
$12,988,087
2%
<1%
Security aid
$12,832,785
2%
1%
Budgeted fund balance
$10,950,000
2%
4%
IDEA Part B
$7,579,505
1%
<1%
Transportation aid
$5,744,588
<1%
<1%
Extraordinary aid
$4,000,000
<1%
<1%
Unrestricted miscellaneous revenue
$2,446,674
<1%
1%
Preschool aid prior-year carryover
$1,036,261
<1%
<1%
These are selected source rows from operating, special-revenue, debt-service, and reserve sections. They are not additive because several are subtotals or belong to different funds.
Current UFB line appendix
Revenue file · 38 contextual rows
Line
Account
UFB row
Amount
Op. equiv.
100/114
10-1210
Total Tax Levy
$59,813,124
9%
190
10-1300
Total Tuition
$90,000
<1%
300
10-1XXX
Unrestricted Miscellaneous Revenues
$2,446,674
<1%
330
10-1XXX
Interest Earned on Maintenance Reserve (330)
$400,000
<1%
340
10-1XXX
Interest Earned on Capital Reserve Funds
$1,141,232
<1%
370
n/a
Total Revenues from Local Sources (370)
$63,891,030
9%
420
10-3121
Categorical Transportation Aid
$5,744,588
<1%
430
10-3131
Extraordinary Aid
$4,000,000
<1%
440
10-3132
Categorical Special Education Aid
$27,384,456
4%
450
10-3175
Educational Adequacy Aid
$28,521,068
4%
460
10-3176
Equalization Aid
$522,908,752
77%
470
10-3177
Categorical Security Aid
$12,832,785
2%
520
n/a
Total Revenues from State Sources (520)
$601,391,649
89%
540
10-4200
Medicaid Reimbursement
$200,743
<1%
570
n/a
Total Revenues from Federal Sources (570)
$200,743
<1%
580
10-303
Budgeted Fund Balance-Operating Budget
$10,950,000
2%
737
20-1760
Student Activity Fund Revenue
$130,000
<1%
738
20-1770
Scholarship Fund Revenue
$5,000
<1%
740
20-1XXX
Other Revenue from Local Sources
$161,165
<1%
745
20-1XXX
Total Revenues from Local Sources (745)
$296,165
<1%
755
20-3218
Preschool Education Aid-Prior Year Carryover
$1,036,261
<1%
760
20-3218
Preschool Education Aid
$42,924,740
6%
762
20-3212
Nonpublic Teacher Stem Grant (762)
$35,530
<1%
765
20-32XX
Other Restricted Entitlements
$504,906
<1%
770
n/a
Total Revenues from State Sources (770)
$44,501,437
7%
775
20-4411-4416
Title I (775)
$12,988,087
2%
780
20-4451-4455
Title II (780)
$1,248,911
<1%
785
20-4491-4494
Title III (785)
$2,268,081
<1%
790
20-4471-4474
Title IV (790)
$1,276,565
<1%
805
20-4420-4429
I.D.E.A. Part B (Handicapped) (805)
$7,579,505
1%
810
20-4430
Vocational Education (810)
$314,941
<1%
815
20-4440
Adult Basic Education
$111,350
<1%
825
20-4XXX
Other (825)
$378,733
<1%
830
n/a
Total Revenues from Federal Sources (830)
$26,166,173
4%
836
20-5200
Transfers from Operating Budget-Pre-Kindergartenindergartenindergartenindergartenindergartenindergar
$5,329,330
<1%
837
n/a
Actual Revenues (Over)/Under Expenditures-Student Activity Fund
$70,000
<1%
838
n/a
Actual Revenues (Over)/Under Expenditures-Scholarship Fund
$2,000
<1%
840
n/a
Total Grants and Entitlements
$76,365,105
11%
Appropriation file · 63 contextual rows
Line
Account
UFB row
Amount
Op. equiv.
3200
11-1XX-100-XX
Total Regular Programs-Instruction
$40,574,107
6%
10300
11-2XX-100-XX
Total Special Education-Instruction
$5,122,835
<1%
17600
11-402-100-XX
Total School-Sponsored Athletics-Instruction
$3,624,615
<1%
19620
11-421-XXX-XX
Total Before/After School Programs
$3,252,576
<1%
20620
11-422-XXX-XX
Total Summer School
$1,857,092
<1%
27100
11-800-330-XX
Total Community Services Programs/Operations
$577,101
<1%
29180
11-000-100-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Instruction (Tuition)
$38,378,419
6%
29680
11-000-211-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Attendance and Social Work
$462,944
<1%
30620
11-000-213-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Health Services
$219,903
<1%
40580
11-000-216-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Speech, OT, PT and Related Services
$7,655,023
1%
41080
11-000-217-XX
Undistributed Expenditures–Other Support Services, Students–Extraordinary Services
$28,161,657
4%
41660
11-000-218-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Guidance
$1,349,143
<1%
42200
11-000-219-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Child Study Teams
$9,950,658
1%
43200
11-000-221-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Improvement of Instruction Services
$13,078,109
2%
43620
11-000-222-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Education Media Services/Library
$1,000
<1%
45300
11-000-230-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Support Services-General Administration
$7,194,928
1%
46160
11-000-240-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Support Services-School Administration
$1,500,000
<1%
47200
11-000-251-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Central Services
$6,879,525
1%
47620
11-000-252-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Administrative Informationtechnology
$8,607,625
1%
51120
11-000-26X-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Operation and Maintenance of Plant Services
$81,232,401
12%
52480
11-000-270-XX
Total Undistributed Expenditures-Student Transportation Services
$34,016,563
5%
71260
11-XXX-XXX-2X
Total Personal Services-Employee Benefits
$49,636,486
7%
72140
n/a
Total Undistributed Expenditures
$288,324,384
43%
72180
10-606
Interest Earned on Maintenance Reserve (72180)
$400,000
<1%
72260
n/a
Total General Current Expense
$343,732,710
51%
75880
12-XXX-XXX-73
Total Equipment
$144,500
<1%
76380
10-604
Interest Deposit to Capital Reserve
$1,141,232
<1%
76400
n/a
Total Capital Outlay
$1,285,732
<1%
80180
13-602-100-XX
Total Adult Education-Local-Instruction
$8,000
<1%
80320
13-602-200-XX
Total Adult Education-Local-Support Services
$20,000
<1%
80340
13-602-X00-XX
Total Adult Education-Local
$28,000
<1%
82180
13-631-100-XX
Total Evening School-Foreign-Born-Local-Instruction
$5,000
<1%
82340
13-631-X00-XX
Total Evening School-Foreign-Born-Local
$5,000
<1%
83080
13-XXX-XXX-XX
Total Special Schools
$33,000
<1%
84000
10-000-100-56
Transfer of Funds to Charter Schools
$1,756,641
<1%
84020
10-000-520-93
General Fund Contribution to School Based Budgeting
$329,625,339
49%
84100
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Local Projects
$161,165
<1%
84200
20-475-XXX-XX
Student Activity Fund
$200,000
<1%
84220
20-476-XXX-XX
Scholarship Fund
$7,000
<1%
85120
20-218-100-XX
Total Preschool Education Aid Instruction
$26,864,032
4%
86380
20-218-200-XX
Total Support Services
$22,394,199
3%
87040
20-218-400-XX
Total Facility Acquisition and Construction Services
$32,100
<1%
87100
20-218-XXX-XX
Total Preschool Education Aid
$49,290,331
7%
88000
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Nonpublic Textbooks
$25,212
<1%
88020
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Nonpublic Auxiliary Services
$60,744
<1%
88040
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Nonpublic Handicapped Services
$200,593
<1%
88060
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Nonpublic Nursing Services
$75,361
<1%
88080
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Nonpublic Technology Initiative
$24,157
<1%
88090
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Nonpublic Security Aid
$118,839
<1%
88135
20-481-XXX-XX
Nonpublic Teacher Stem Grant (88135)
$35,530
<1%
88180
n/a
Total Other State Projects
$540,436
<1%
88200
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Total State Projects
$49,830,767
7%
88500
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Title I (88500)
$4,788,091
<1%
88520
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Title II (88520)
$1,248,911
<1%
88540
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Title III (88540)
$1,468,081
<1%
88560
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Title IV (88560)
$1,276,565
<1%
88620
20-XXX-XXX-XX
I.D.E.A. Part B (Handicapped) (88620)
$7,579,505
1%
88640
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Vocational Education (88640)
$314,941
<1%
88660
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Adult Education
$111,350
<1%
88700
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Other (88700)
$378,733
<1%
88720
20-XXX-520-93
Contribution to School Based Budgeting-Other Federal Projects
$8,999,996
1%
88740
20-XXX-XXX-XX
Total Federal Projects
$26,166,173
4%
88760
n/a
Total Special Revenue Funds
$76,365,105
11%
This appendix lists all 101 contextual positive latest-year UFB revenue and appropriation rows after dropping outer totals, deduct rows, and known duplicate tax-levy label variants. Rows are still source-file rows, not one additive schedule; the operating-equivalent column uses the proposed operating budget only as a common scale reference.
The budget answer sheet turns the current proposal, peer and slice position, revenue model, use categories, student/service load, inflation-adjusted movement, and reserve/side-file context into direct reader questions in the first-read path. The budget front brief replaces the dense opening paragraph with a lead sentence, anchored takeaways, and a short synthesis paragraph so each load-bearing number has a comparison, time basis, fund scope, or denominator before the detailed report opens. The budget essentials panel answers the main resident questions before the long evidence stack: first read, peer cost, proposal movement, payer mix, category/source-family signal, inflation-adjusted trend, student denominator, and side-file context. The budget machine panel now appears immediately after the thesis and reporting notebook, preserving the same operating-squeeze route as the front brief when recurring pressure is the selected first read, then extracting the resident-facing mechanism across cost position, funding model, recurring cost engine, inflation and denominator movement, and proposal/reserve timing before the long evidence sections. The budget squeeze explainer now appears in the first-read path, connecting recurring operating sources, recurring cost families, CPI-adjusted per-student movement, service-load denominators, current proposal rows, one-time support, and local record checks before the long evidence sections. The budget evidence board now appears in the first-read path, putting peer and slice comparison frames, category-family movers, inflation/denominator checks, and nominal proposal rows side by side before the answer sheet and detailed proof sections. The budget operating model turns the first-read evidence into six compact resident reads: operating scale, payer mix, source-family uses, CPI-adjusted movement, latest proposal movement, and one-time, tax, or service-load checks that can change the interpretation. The comparison brief puts the published cost line into named local peer, statewide, funding-model, scale, cost-band, and high-signal category or service-load frames before the long report begins. The budget diagnosis ranks the strongest generated explanatory lanes before the long evidence sections, separating what each lane can explain from what it cannot prove. The peer position snapshot now follows the front brief so the opening cost, funding, and category or service-load comparisons are visible as local peer distributions before the report map, language key, and long evidence sections. The budget explanation brief now appears in the top report path after the answer sheet, separating largest current source-row family, widest local peer gap, largest inflation-adjusted family movement, and latest proposal-column movement before the map and detailed proof sections. The budget story package now appears in the top report path after the explanation brief, keeping the UFB-supported claim, fair comparison, inflation/category/proposal checks, next reporting move, and blocked overread on the same row before the peer snapshot and map. The budget mechanism read now appears in the top report path before the map, separating relative-cost, funding, category/slice, inflation/denominator, student/service-load, proposal-timing, one-time-support, and outside-operating explanations into proof, next-reporting, and blocked-overread columns. The budget thesis and reporting-order panel now appears directly after the front brief, turning the first-read evidence into an editor-style route: compare peers and slices first, then read categories/source rows, use CPI-adjusted movement and denominator checks as guardrails, and hand causal claims to outside reporting. The opening budget-story panel ranks the strongest generated reporting leads from latest-year peer comparisons, row-level scans, planning-enrollment rows, and inflation-adjusted movement. The budget story spine keeps each reportable signal beside its UFB proof, fair comparison, outside-reporting need, and overread caveat before the report opens the longer evidence sections. The budget storylines panel packages the strongest UFB signals as article routes with a working nut graf, reader value, proof basis, outside-reporting gap, and sentence to avoid before writing. The budget reading memo turns the strongest UFB signals into an opening editorial route: the lead angle to test, why the simple read is weak, which context changes the read, and what records or checks should come next. The question-to-reporting path turns the strongest district-specific UFB signals into resident questions, first comparison frames, records to pull, and unsupported shortcuts to block before writing. The public-hearing agenda converts the proposal, relative-cost, category, inflation, student/service, and side-file signals into concrete meeting questions, record requests, proof links, and unsupported readings to block. The budget news judgment filter labels ordinary nominal growth as background, separates UFB-ready facts from leads that need a second signal or outside records, and blocks causal or quality claims from UFB alone. The budget claim audit turns the strongest UFB-supported signals into sentence-level claims, then labels what still needs outside reporting and which unsupported shortcuts to block before writing. The comparison movement brief pulls selected peer-position trend measures into the opening story so readers can see whether the district moved toward or away from the local average on cost, funding, tax, category, and service-load signals. The comparison-frame movement panel takes the latest-year local, statewide, funding-model, scale, and cost-band frames from the relative-cost ladder and checks whether published comparative cost moved closer to or farther from each frame after inflation. The operating story basis panel separates recurring General Fund operating evidence from live proposal movement, fund-balance/reserve sources, side-file context, and outside-operating rows before readers interpret the budget story. The structural squeeze test checks whether main operating-source movement, appropriation/use-family movement, limited support, service-load denominators, and peer position support a recurring-pressure hypothesis, while naming the outside records needed before writing a deficit, levy-cap, cut, or causal claim. The budget flow bridge keeps the relative cost frame, money in, money out, proposal movement, outside-operating rows, side files, and student denominator in one scan before readers enter the detailed evidence sections. The budget pressure map ranks the cost, funding, category, proposal, student/service-load, inflation, reserve/side-file, and outside-operating pressures a reader should test first, while separating what each pressure can explain from what it cannot prove. The budget tension checks pair current cost position, inflation-adjusted movement, proposal movement, tax burden, funding model, category slices, service load, reserves, and outside-operating rows so a reader can see which simple budget reads need a second signal. The category story map pulls current source-row scale, local peer gaps, inflation-adjusted movement, and latest proposal movement into one first-read map before the detailed category, trend, and proposal tables. The proposal-versus-trend bridge checks whether latest proposal-column movement continues, counters, or sits apart from loaded-year inflation-adjusted category movement. The budget reporting lead sheet turns the strongest generated signals into a ranked reporting agenda with evidence, reader questions, caveats, and links to the proof sections. The budget reporting notebook now appears directly after the thesis, translating the ranked UFB leads into outside records, interview checks, proof links, and unsupported readings to block before the longer report path opens. The editorial frame separates what UFB can establish from what still requires board documents, tax records, contracts, staffing context, or other outside reporting before causal claims are made. The budget model synthesis connects cost position, funding model, spending structure, service load, live proposal movement, inflation-adjusted trend, and side-file context into one reporting frame before the detailed evidence sections. The cost gap ledger translates the comparison into per-UFB-on-roll dollar gaps for operating scale, funding sources, use categories, pupil-cost rows, and service-load denominators before the detailed evidence sections. The cost-position clues panel now appears in the first-read path, naming the concrete UFB measures, funding and tax signals, named rows, proposal movement, denominator checks, and budget-year context that can explain or complicate the district’s comparative-cost position without claiming causality. The cost-position judgment panel now follows the clue scan in the first-read path, deciding whether the visible UFB signals line up with the published comparative-cost position, complicate it, or leave the explanation to outside reporting. The UFB source-coverage panel inventories the latest matched summary, revenue, appropriation, pupil-cost, planning-enrollment, tax, balance, unusual-item, shared-service, school-resource, and salary source families before the report routes them into evidence sections. The UFB source-file ledger links the exact latest NJDOE CSV files behind the district report and names the row count, use, and limit for each loaded budget file. The statewide budget-model panel names the broader comparison frames this district belongs to before the report moves into local peer evidence and source rows. The statewide slice-comparison panel opens with a relative-cost ladder across local peers, all NJ UFB districts, and matching latest-year groups for funding model, UFB on-roll scale, comparative-cost band, and generated category signals. The named similar-budget-model comps panel turns statewide slice logic into concrete district examples by naming districts with nearby latest-year UFB funding, scale, use, service-load, tax, and cost profiles. The change-driver panel summarizes first-to-latest UFB movement across real operating scale, planning-enrollment denominator shifts, peer-position changes, source shares, use shares, and named line rows. The comparative-cost timing-basis panel maps the latest UFB file’s actual-cost, original-budget, revised/current-budget, and proposed-budget columns before readers interpret trend or proposal claims. The per-student cost-change anatomy panel decomposes real operating budget per UFB on-roll into a budget-numerator effect and a planning-enrollment denominator effect, while keeping NJDOE comparative cost distinct. The operating funding-shift panel shows who paid differently across loaded UFB years by separating local, state, federal, and fund-balance/other operating-source shares, real-dollar movement, and latest local peer mix. The pupil-cost category movement panel shows which NJDOE standardized per-pupil cost rows moved after inflation and how the latest row values compare with the local peer average. The current-proposal panel compares the latest UFB revised/current-budget column with the proposed-budget column for operating revenue, high-level uses, NJDOE pupil-cost rows, and UFB planning enrollment. The proposal package panel groups material named revised/current-to-proposed UFB row movement into budget families, separating increases, reductions, net movement, largest rows, and local peer scale before the named-line driver table. The named-line proposal-driver panel scans every latest-year UFB revenue and appropriation row with revised/current and proposed amounts, then surfaces material nominal row changes with operating-budget-equivalent scale and same-row local peer context. The cost-basis reconciliation panel separates NJDOE comparative cost, operating-budget-per-student scale checks, all-funds context, and tax-levy pressure so per-student ranks are read with their numerator and denominator. The student-flow and money-path panel separates operating-dollar routes from UFB planning-enrollment routes so transfer rows, school-based budgeting, special-education load, sent placements, and received-student rows are read as distinct evidence. The dot strip compares 2025-26 comparative cost per pupil across Union County districts; each dot is one district, shown in 2025 dollars. The local-standout table ranks funding, spending, placement, and pupil-cost measures against the same peer set; rank 1 means the highest value, not the best value. The local peer evidence strips show the strongest generated budget measures as peer distributions, so the rank and gap can be checked visually. The named peer context panel identifies the local districts immediately above and below this district on selected measures, plus the local range behind the average. The local comparison roster names every district in the local peer set behind the averages and ranks, with comparative cost, UFB planning enrollment, operating scale, and funding-model context. The current operating mix comparison uses paired stacked bars to compare this district with the local peer average for General Fund operating revenue sources and high-level operating uses, keeping the operating-budget denominator and non-additive category caveat visible. The position-over-time panel tracks selected budget measures against the local peer average across loaded UFB years, with money values converted to real dollars. The fall-enrollment and student-need panel puts UFB planning enrollment beside fall enrollment, per-student scale checks, free/reduced-price lunch, multilingual learners, and homelessness for the same local peer frame. The service-load history panel tracks UFB planning-enrollment rows across loaded years so denominator movement, special-education on-roll, sent placements, contract preschool, and receiving rows are visible before per-pupil cost comparisons. The labor-cost context panel puts salary-bearing pupil-cost rows, employee benefits, and selected administrative salary side-file rows in the local peer frame without treating those rows as complete payroll. The loaded-year ledger gives the annual operating-budget, UFB on-roll, real per-student cost, peer-average, funding-mix, and largest-use context behind the trend panels. The named-line history panel shows the selected UFB revenue and appropriation row movers year by year in real dollars and operating-budget-equivalent scale. The fund-balance and reserve source-history panel separates named balance, reserve, and carryover source rows from local, state, and federal operating-source summaries, then shows latest scale, local peer scale, proposal-column movement, and first-to-latest real movement. The category history table compares major operating uses, nested cost rows, and outside-operating scale rows by latest amount, peer share, first-to-latest share movement, and inflation-adjusted dollar movement. The budget-family context matrix gives a scan-first category view of which source-row families are largest now, furthest from local peers, or moving most after inflation before the detailed family cards and source rows. The named family peer context names the local districts immediately above and below this district on selected budget-family shares, plus the local range behind the peer average. The budget-family lens groups contextual UFB revenue and appropriation rows into reader-facing families with latest scale, local peer scale, first-to-latest real movement, and largest source-row evidence. The anatomy panel separates operating sources, high-level operating uses, and all-funds or outside-operating rows before the lower-level tables. The budget diagnostic turns the UFB source files into fixed reader questions about cost position, funding model, spending mix, student-service load, inflation-adjusted movement, and side-file context. The walkthrough gives the report a reader-facing path through money in, money out, costs and students, real-dollar changes, and UFB side files before the detailed tables. The comparison matrix extends the same measures to county and statewide averages and ranks where enough districts have usable values. The tax-effort panel separates UFB summary tax levy per planning student, estimated school-tax rates, equalized tax base, and municipal slice spread before the raw tax-rate side-file rows. The tax and balance panel uses NJDOE estimated tax-rate rows and recapitulation-of-balance rows, separating levy/rate context from operating spending. The side-file history table shows whether tax, balance, unusual-item, shared-service, school-resource, and salary context is persistent or latest-year-only. The balance and reserve history panel tracks projected close-year recap balances by category across loaded UFB years, with real-dollar movement, local peer scale, and restriction caveats. The school-based resource statement panel appears only for districts with a blended-resource school-based budgeting side file; it separates resource-side rows, appropriation-side rows, proposal-column movement, and sparse local/state reporting-cohort context. The administrative-salary table lists selected UFB administrative salary rows; it is not complete payroll. The listed administrative salary history panel tracks selected UFB employees side-file rows across loaded years in real dollars, then compares latest listed base, row, FTE, and shared-service scale with local peers. The budget-notes panel surfaces district-reported unusual revenue or appropriation explanations and shared-service entries. The unusual/shared-service profile classifies district-reported unusual-item explanations and shared-service arrangements before the raw side-file rows, while blocking additive or audited-savings readings. The spending-category bars use high-level General Fund appropriation rows as shares of the proposed operating budget; the neutral tick is the average among Union County districts with usable category data. The stacked trend bars show category shares of each loaded UFB year’s proposed operating budget, so they foreground structure rather than nominal dollar growth. The budget turning-points table compares adjacent loaded UFB years so annual real-dollar, peer-gap, payer-mix, source-family, named-row, and service-load movements surface before the longer trend evidence. The largest-lines table is selected from the positive line rows in the latest UFB revenue and appropriation files, excluding only outer totals. The current UFB line appendix lists every contextual positive latest-year revenue and appropriation row, keeping source-file line numbers and accounts visible. The peer-line table compares contextual UFB revenue and appropriation rows against the local peer set so unusually large, small, or absent named rows surface before the full line appendix. The main-funds table keeps all-funds, General Fund, transfer, special-revenue, capital, and debt-service rows visible without treating them as one additive mix. The selected cost table uses lower-level UFB appropriation rows for reader context; those rows are nested inside broader categories and are not additive. The trend-driver table compares contextual UFB rows from the first loaded budget year to the latest year in 2025 dollars; share changes use the operating budget as a scale reference. The selected revenue table pulls named aid, levy, reserve, and grant lines from the UFB revenue file; some rows are subtotals or come from non-operating funds. The pupil-cost table uses NJDOE-published per-pupil breakdown rows for the proposed budget year. The enrollment/placement table uses UFB budget-enrollment planning rows, which can differ from fall enrollment. The line adjusts NJDOE’s published comparative per-pupil cost for each loaded User-Friendly Budget year to 2025 dollars using BLS CPI-U annual averages. The lighter line shows the Union County average across districts with usable comparative-cost values, adjusted on the same basis. The stacked bar shows proposed General Fund operating revenue sources; grants, debt service, and transfers can make all-funds totals differ. Source: NJDOE User-Friendly Budgets, 2025-26; BLS CPI-U.
