Official Site of The State of New Jersey
User-Friendly Budgets
School districts are required to place a user-friendly summary of their proposed budget on their website within 48 hours after the public hearing on the budget. Once approved the summary must be posted on both the district’s website and the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) website.
Budget Summary
The school district budget summary includes the following:
- All appropriation line items aggregated by item type
- School tax rate
- Equalized school tax rate
- Revenues by major category
- Amount of available surplus
- Description of unusual revenues or appropriations with a description of the circumstances of the revenues and appropriations
- List of shared services agreements in which the district is participating
- Salary and benefits information
Required Salary and Benefits Information
The school district budget summary contains detailed information on the salaries and benefits of each:
- Assistant superintendent
- District superintendent
- School business administrator
- School district employee whose annual base salary exceeds $75,000, and who is not a member of a collective bargaining unit.
These postings must stay online for a year, until they are replaced by the following year's budget summary. The information provided as part of the user-friendly budget summaries is for contracts in effect as of January 1. The amount columns are reported on an annualized basis and represent the maximum amount that the employee could be paid in the given year.
It is important to note that some of the benefits listed on this website—such as stipends, the buyback of accrued sick time and separation payments—have either been capped or are no longer permitted to be included in new administrator contracts, which must be reviewed and approved by the Executive County Superintendent in each county.
Salary Data
The salary data contained in the user-friendly budget summaries are self-reported by the districts. The NJDOE has not approved this information, nor is it responsible for its accuracy.
Statute and Code
- N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-8.1(c): Budget submission; supporting documentation; website publication
- N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-5.3: Additional supporting documents for budget submissions relative to certain school employees.
- N.J.S.A. 18A:22-8: Transfer of funds, conditions
- N.J.S.A. 18A:22-8a: "User-friendly" plain language budget summary forms for school districts; information; submission; availability.