So when we first moved to the group insurance commission uh which is the statewide conglomerate that purchases health insurance uh we moved from a smaller uh group uh purchasing group. uh we saw significant savings not just at the outset but the rate of increase was significantly less than what we were experiencing with the consortium that we were with before. However, over the last several years that has changed and we are seeing significant increases in health insurance through the group insurance commission the GIC. Um this year we're looking at an increase of uh almost 13%. Um which total of $1 million. So you can see that's a pretty significant amount. Um and a big primary factor in driving the budget deficit. Additionally, even though it's a small amount from a dollar perspective, on a percentage basis, our unemployment comp compensation insurance is going up. Um, employee retirement is actually going up 6%.
Nonetheless, it resulted in a um $92,000 um decrease. Theirs is not usually that much. I mean, it's less than $4,000 a student over there. So, um, even on a good year, we're maybe about $160,000 if we were fully funding um that amount. So, and then out of district tuition costs have increased by approximately um $30,000. district costs saving measures. We continue to participate in the public employer trust for our health and prescription benefits. We did have an overall package increase of 11.59. It's a little higher than in years past, but it's kind of the trend. Um the state employee uh health benefits package was, I believe, listed to go up around 22 or 23% overall. So either way, we're in pretty good shape. Um we do are participating in the Burlington County Insurance Fund. We participate in ASES which gives us electric savings, e-ate which we get a portion of our Comcast bill uh covered and then semi programs which are those Medicaid um programs for those extraordinary services that we submit for uh shared services with ED services commission.
She is an invaluable resource, not only for our students, but also for parents and staff alike. Miss Craig consistently shares her expertise and guidance, ensuring that everyone she works with feels informed, supported, and empowered. What truly sets Miss Craig apart is her proactive approach. She doesn't wait for needs to arise. She anticipates them, making sure her students receive the very best support. She is a strong advocate for them, always going above and beyond to ensure they have every opportunity to succeed. Her commitment shines most brightly during IEP meetings where her collaboration and insight leave a lasting impact. Staff members consistently share how grateful they are to work alongside Miss Craig, appreciating her dedication, professionalism, and the positive spirit she brings to every interaction. Miss Craig, thank you for being a true champion for our students and for all you do each and every day. We are so fortunate to have you as part of the Smallley School family.
But in terms of cost, is it additional teachers? Is it the cost of the material program? It's the cost of the materials and the programs. Yeah. Um what you know what is a little disheartening about um some of these programs is now with everything being online, right, you are paying for a site license on an annual basis. We used to be able to buy a textbook and use it year over year. Yes. still had to buy textbooks and I mean workbooks and manipulatives and things like that, but you would think going to an online platform would be a cost savings. The publishers have not reduced their costs at all. Makes sense. And you know, and and you really do get in a little bit of a uh bind trying to figure out, you know, when you buy a one-year license, it's at a certain price, and then they offer you a six-year license at double the one-year price, but you're getting it for six years, right?
Again, that's an obligation that we must pay. So, I think, you know, one way to think about these is when we think about the budget, we think about things called fixed costs and we think about things called discretionary costs. And when we talk about, you know, if we are in a place where we have to make cuts, what can we cut? Well, unfortunately, we can't cut the fixed costs, the obligations that we are um required to pay. And those make up about 85% of the budget. So, we don't really have that much discretionary things in the budget from which to cut. So that's just kind of more of an aside about our our whole budgetary picture in of itself, but trying to think of trying to look to see if there's anything else people might be interested in on the general fund side. If not, I'll move on to the enterprise funds.
They do some of our transportation, CST services, nurses on an as needed basis. Um, we are creating an in-house special ed program to keep some of our students in district placements. Um, and then hopefully a potential creating a potential revenue in the future. And we're going to train some of our instructional assistants in RBT, which is re registered behavior technician in those practices. So, they're not really called RBTs as as per what Miss Friedwood has told us, but they're going to be trained in those practices to be able to implement those in the classroom. Um, if you remember, I think we approved that sidebar agreement, um, which will create a stipen for these individuals, but then we'll be able to save money, um, as opposed to contracting out for that. Um, 2526 budget includes that we're maintaining all of our existing positions, including all of our co-curricular.
Congratulations on this well-deserved honor. [Applause] Did before. Another round of applause for Mrs. Craig. And next up from Community Middle School, we have our district educator of the month who will be announced by Dr. Santa Surma. [Applause] Congratulations to Miss Victoria Espazito for being selected as employee of the month of the Bound Brook School District. Miss Espazito, come on down. That's you. [Laughter] Miss Espazito is the eighth grade science teacher at CMS. Her fun and innovative approach to lessons and labs not only challenge students but make learning fun and exciting. For example, earlier in the school year, Miss Espazito uh organized the second annual speed and acceleration lab at the high school football field. Students analyzed the data from this activity, made predictions, evaluated the results, while at the same time had fun trying to beat Mr. Binder in a 50-yard dash. Another recent lab, Miss Espazito, led a series of experiments in the CMS parking lot gazebo area where students evaluated chemical and physical changes of various objects.
So then you're like, "Oh my," you know, so it is a very interesting you have to do try to negotiate. Um, you know, and and try to work the best deal for your district. I don't say there's flexibility in terms of what price they're going to give you for a license. But for example, one of the publishers we were looking at, it's one year or six years. So I said, "Well, how about three years? You don't have that on your price sheet, but can we work something out?" you know, they're open to that. So, it is the the cost of the program is is is what's a big investment. Okay. I guess kind of related to that, how much did you kind of see around the the curve when it comes to the the standards? I mean, I know the younger math, as we're living in right now, is still very much common core.
And really the one I want to highlight is the water enterprise fund which is actually going up um almost $600,000. So the good news is is that that is directly attributable to infrastructure improvements that we're planning to make including uh a replacement of our ozone filter which is a critical component of our water filtration system. Uh what keeps our water clean, what keeps our water pure, what keeps our water healthy. Um, also uh included in this are replacement of water manes which uh many of which have not been replaced since they were first put in the ground. Um, and if you follow the town's social media pages, you will see uh very frequent references to water mane breaks and those can cause all kinds of issues. Not the least of which for our staff who basically it's like all hands on deck and you know some of these fixes can take you know over 12 hours sometimes you know I've seen them when it's a hard time finding the breaks sometimes it can even take upwards of 24 hours to fix.
Um, all of our related services for special ed services will increase about $135,000. Um, that's despite having those RBT trained staff in here. There's just a lot of needs right now. Um it's just something we can't avoid. But hopefully in the coming years with getting these programs in district and things that nature, we'll be able to stabilize some of those costs. And then there is an increase in school supplies for a math curriculum, which I think we're staying with the same math curriculum. It's just that that it was like a 5-year program and it expired. So now we have to renew, but we're sticking with the same um one. So it's it's a big cost upfront, but it's a multi-year. Um so let's go into the budget property tax impact. And as you'll see the um proposed tax levy from 24 to 25 to 2526 is there.
What I call the Cheetos experiment, students hypothesized what happens when a Cheeto burns. Students predicted color change, the properties of the resulting flame, recorded observations related to smell, burning duration. I think that's all correct, and more from what I saw. Not to mention, they had fun burning Cheetos. Uh, Miss Espazito also works with members of the science department to conduct virtual labs with our partners from students to science. Several times throughout the year, lab kits are delivered to the community middle school and scientists deliver labs from their headquarters in East Hanover, which are facilitated by our CMS teachers. Conversely, Miss Miss Espazito and members of the science department organize several class trips for hands-on experiments at the students to science labs up in East Hanover. Engaging activities such as these bring science to life and create memorable and lasting learning experiences. Outside the classroom, Miss Espazito is the CMS student council adviser.
And I don't know like is that going to be Well, New Jersey just redid their standards and they put some revisions in at the elementary level. Not a ton of changes, but certain things made their way back into the standards like money, which was kind of deemphasized for a while. Now that is back. And the good thing about these online programs is that they are pretty quick to adapt to change their online licenses to make sure that they can get those standards in and create lessons and, you know, activities for kids that do adapt to those changes in the standards. Yeah. So, if you're if you're in a multi-year license, then they're they have to be compliant with the standard or are you stuck with what they most of the time they will say to you that they will make those adjustments in real time each year.
But just a long story short we need to we need to make a lot of replacements in our water main infrastructure. So, we've placed some money in the budget there. I could spend a lot of time going through each and every one of these, but in the essence of time, I will not. And I will open it up to questions. Mark, please come to the microphone at the podium. No, we tried to we tried to throw a curveball at you, Mark. But you can have that. That's my gift to you right there. There you go. You got What do you think the trade in value of this is, Mark? Yeah, it's basically full of numbers. That was only Yeah, that's all. Oh, okay. That was easy. Anything else? And anybody on Zoom who has a question again, please raise your hand. If I had known there were no questions, I would have gone on and on and on and on.
It's just a 2% increase just a 400 $400 increase in that debt service fund. Um so our total tax levy is just over 11 million for 2526. Um not a big difference between the um average assessed home in Berlin Township based on uh their reports. So it went from 188288 in 2024 to 188862. And again, that's your average assessed home. And then obviously our local tax rate is just a minor adjustment based on ratables and the average assessed home and things of that nature that all come into that um calculation. So based on all of those numbers, a Berlin Township assessed home at 188862, the property tax increase will be about $510 per month um next year for local school taxes. That's all I have.
She plays a pivotal role in organizing numerous whole school projects, fundraisers, and initiatives to improve the overall climate and culture of the school. Plans are currently in the works for end of the year activities at CMS, including the eighth grade celebration and barbecue, sixth, seventh grade move up dance, the CMS open house, which is next week, February 7 or February, May 7th. uh which includes our CMS openhouse, art show, concert, food festival, and of course our science fair. Miss Espazito's student council conducts conducts fundraisers such as the recent green bagel sale and the upcoming CMS car wash, which is Saturday, May 10th. Mark your calendars from 10 to 2 in the CMS parking lot. Only $5 per car if it's board approved tonight. Miss Espazito's unwavering dedication to her students, creating creative teaching methods, and commitment to enhancing the atmosphere at CMS are greatly valued and appreciated.
So um and so that's a good thing right because if you're working with the textbook it doesn't have a chapter on money you know they say we will stay consistent with the standards if there are state standards changes that get adopted you know and then they have to make adjustments to the workbook the next year because especially at our younger grades kids still have a workbook um but yeah that's that's the good thing about the online is that they will be responsive in that way. Oh yes or I'll take them. It's okay. Sure. So question is you talked about the older special ed eventually changing because they're so would it would that change increase the mask on high school? Do they charge a different fee per student for special ed will that follow? I think it depends upon each student's services they get that they get through their IEP.
Yes, Joan Jungen Friday one shore road. Yeah, the historical commission speaking as a resident. Um so we seem to be on a water ban most of the year. So does any of this help with that? Is there any way to increase our water or is this part of this this is just maintenance right now? Yeah, this this piece is just maintenance, Joan. Okay. Um I will say that uh over the last couple years, we were able to connect to the MWR and complete that connection um which uh right now can only be used as a supplemental connection and the rules say that it's only when it gets down the water level gets down to a certain level that we can turn that on. Now, um that the way the structure is set up, the way it is right now is that it wouldn't help any of our water or things like water bands or issues like that.
Any questions? All right. Hearing no questions. At this point, we do have to open it up to the public in case any public wanted to comment. Um, not that they're here, but we'll go ahead and open that formally. Can I have a motion in a second? Second. Get us out of here. I'm getting there. I'm getting No. No. You just got here. I know. All right.
Congratulations once again for being our teacher of the month. Another round of applause for Miss [Applause] Espazito. Another round of applause for all of our award recipients tonight. And if all of the teachers who came to support their students would please stand. We just want to give you a round all the teachers who came to support. I see you. All of you please stand. So yes, teachers, educators who was came to support, I just want to give them a round of applause. It shows their dedication to our students and and their colleagues. Thank you. Okay, at this time we are going to call all of the the students of the month as well as their families up to take a group picture. Thank you. Come on down. Congratulations. Why don't you come forward a little more One more [Music] push camera. [Applause] Can't do it.
So, you know, if if they are not in a resource room or they don't get additional services, I do not think there's there's not a change in cost if they have a gened program. Okay. Um, okay. So, that's goal one. Um, oh, and this is our Oh, we missed one. Sorry. Yeah, you advanced. Sorry. Sorry. I advanced it before the question. Okay. So our second goal uh was around social emotional learning this year and providing support for students in this area. Um we integrated zones of regulation, trained our teachers on that. Uh we implemented a consistent code of conduct this year. Um trained our teachers with morning meeting. Um other programs to reinforce those expectations. Um our guidance counselors sometime sometimes they pushed into classes to do certain lessons on certain things. And you know this impacts our budget because we are fortunate to have two full-time counselors.