Bernards' 2026 Budget and Your Tax Bill, Explained

The short version

The 2026 municipal budget is $49,773,967.75. The Township Committee introduced it 4-0 on March 24, 2026 (Committeeman McNally absent) and adopted it 5-0 on April 28, 2026, after a public hearing at which one resident spoke.
The municipal tax rate is 0.246 per $100 of assessed value (0.253 in 2025), plus 0.033 for the township library. The total 2026 rate on a Bernards bill is 1.661 (1.688 in 2025), most of it for the Bernards Township School District.
Taxes for municipal purposes rose $808,094.97 (3.44%), to $24,315,594.30; the library levy rose $263,000 (8.77%), to $3,261,768. Total assessed value rose 6.12%, which is why the rate fell.
The township has no municipal debt. Capital work is paid in cash: the 2026 capital budget of $7,699,380 was appropriated from the Capital Improvement Fund. The 2025 audit made no recommendations.

Who sets each part of the tax bill

The Somerset County Board of Taxation’s 2026 abstract gives these rates and amounts for Bernards, per $100 of assessed value:

Part of the bill	Set by	2026 rate	2025 rate	2026 amount raised
District school	Bernards Township Board of Education	1.077	1.095	$106,363,285.00
County	Somerset County	0.275	0.278	$27,105,472.68
County open space	Somerset County	0.030	0.030	$2,952,922.23
Municipal purposes	Township Committee	0.246	0.253	$24,315,594.31
Municipal library	Township Committee (library levy)	0.033	0.032	$3,261,768.37
General tax rate		1.661	1.688	$163,999,042.59

The effective (equalized) rate is 1.666. The total levy rose from $157,042,790.05 in 2025, an increase of $6,956,252.54. Net taxable value is $9,877,438,600 (2025: $9,308,238,700), of which residential property is $8,909,247,100. There is no fire district tax in Bernards; the 2026 User Friendly Budget shows no fire district or other special district levy.

The township’s 2025 audit records the total rate falling each year: 1.886 in 2023, 1.779 in 2024 and 1.688 in 2025.

The school district, county and library are separate budgets. The school district holds its own budget hearing; the library levy is set under the state’s municipal library law and appears in the municipal budget (the CFO’s deck labels it “Minimum Levy per 40:54-8”).

The 2026 municipal budget, step by step

December 23, 2025: closing out 2025. The Committee cancelled $4,000,000.00 of unexpended 2025 appropriations so the balance would be credited to fund balance (Res. #2025-0446, consent agenda, 5-0). The largest lines were legal services, utilities, employee group insurance, code enforcement and snow.
January 6: temporary budget and the Mayor’s statement. Temporary appropriations let the township operate before adoption. In her reorganization address, Mayor Ana Duarte McCarthy said the township “has maintained a ‘Pay As You Go’ capital budgeting policy and has not issued debt for any capital project in nearly 35 years, with our last borrowing being in 1991.”
January 27: cap bank, Ordinance #2592, 5-0. Introduced 4-0 on January 13 and adopted 5-0 with no public speakers, the ordinance lets the 2026 budget rise “up to 3.5%” over the prior year’s final appropriations, “amounting to no more than $1,105,014.45.” The 1.5% above the otherwise permitted increase is stated as $473,577.62; any unused amount may be used in the next two years.
February 24 and March 10: first capital ordinance, #2594. Introduced 5-0 and adopted 4-0 with no public speakers, it appropriated $1,449,000 from the Capital Improvement Fund: $750,000 for parks and recreation facilities, $175,000 for building repairs, $300,000 for vehicles and $224,000 for systems, including police mobile data terminals. Its explanatory statement says these items needed an early start “to receive the most competitive bids.”
March 24: presentation and introduction, 4-0. CFO Sean McCarthy presented the budget and the User Friendly Budget form. The Committee introduced the budget (Res. #2026-0213; motion Hodges, second Tompkins), introduced the golf utility budget (Res. #2026-0216) and approved an emergency temporary appropriation bringing 2026 temporary operating appropriations to $32,059,803.20 (Res. #2026-0214). Resident Todd Edelstein commented on the budget in public comment.
April 28: hearing and adoption, 5-0 (Res. #2026-0256; Asay, Hodges, McNally, Tompkins and Duarte McCarthy aye). The CFO presented the budget again and explained that Bernards “conducts yearly assessments, based on comparable house sales,” so that “some neighborhoods may have a dip or a rise in their tax assessment.” At the hearing, Linchun Gao commented on the cost of health insurance in the budget. The minutes record that Committee members “praised the budget and thanked the staff.” In public comment later that night, Todd Edelstein and Nancy D’Andrea commented on the budget and Joan Bannan thanked those who worked on it.
April 28 and May 12: second capital ordinance, #2597. Introduced April 28 and adopted 5-0 on May 12 with no public speakers, it appropriated $6,250,380 from the Capital Improvement Fund (see below).

What the budget spends and how it is paid for

As adopted on April 28:

Appropriations	Amount
Operations within the state “CAPS” (including contingent)	$32,908,035.20
Operations excluded from “CAPS”	$4,926,974.01
Capital improvements	$7,149,365.00
Reserve for uncollected taxes	$4,789,593.54
Total	$49,773,967.75

Revenues	Amount
Surplus anticipated	$16,000,000.00
Miscellaneous revenues	$5,891,605.45
Receipts from delinquent taxes	$305,000.00
Taxes for municipal purposes	$24,315,594.30
Taxes for the municipal library	$3,261,768.00
Total	$49,773,967.75

The CFO’s March 24 deck groups the spending this way, against 2025: salaries and wages $12,619,698 (+2.32%); other expenses $17,795,198 (+6.05%); library $3,261,768 (+8.77%); a $4,000,000 “CAP adjustment provision” (unchanged); grants $361,727 (−72.38%); capital $6,945,983 (−7.82%); and the reserve for uncollected taxes $4,789,594 (+4.57%). Total: $49,773,968 against $49,537,906 in 2025.

Health benefits. The deck notes a 2026 State Health Benefits Plan base-plan increase of 35.4% and says the township moved to a high-deductible base plan. Employee group insurance rose from $2,249,797.99 to $2,628,696.57 (+16.84%). The User Friendly Budget lists one structural imbalance: “Unknown Exorbitant State Health Benefits Plan premium increases.” On May 12 the Committee adopted Res. #2026-0268, 5-0, urging state leaders to reform health-benefit costs; it cites a 36.25% increase for the 2026 Local Government Employer Group.

Public safety is the largest share of appropriations in the deck (14.18%). Police salaries and wages are $5,131,196.13; aid to the volunteer fire companies $110,000 and first aid squad $15,000; the volunteer length-of-service awards program $101,947.50. See police and fire and EMS.

Golf utility. The self-liquidating golf utility budget is $642,234.88 (2025: $569,312.69): salaries $135,172.74 and other expenses $507,062.14, with revenues equal to appropriations.

The average home

From the CFO’s deck (“Average Assessed Home Impact”), municipal and library taxes only:

	2026	2025	Change
Average assessed home	$931,637.26	$871,769.11	+$59,868.15
Municipal services tax	$2,293.44	$2,205.58	+$87.86
Library tax	$307.65	$278.97	+$28.68
Total municipal taxes	$2,601.09	$2,484.54	+$116.55

The school and county parts of the bill are set by those bodies and are not in these figures.

Estimate and final rate. For its reserve calculation in March, the deck estimated a total 2026 rate of 1.627 (school 1.052, county 0.267, county open space 0.028). The county’s final 2026 rates are school 1.077, county 0.275 and county open space 0.030, for a total of 1.661. The municipal (0.246) and library (0.033) rates match the estimate.

Capital: paid in cash, no municipal debt

The 2026 capital budget is $7,699,380: engineering $2,825,000; parks and recreation $1,004,000; vehicle fleet $755,000; streets and roads $635,000; fire and first aid equipment $622,950; buildings $615,000; emergency management $600,000; systems $294,000; police $158,430; grounds $105,000; pool $85,000. The deck says 95% of it replaces aged equipment or maintains infrastructure and 5% ($370,000) is new equipment.

Both capital ordinances draw “from the Capital Improvement Fund,” and together they total the capital budget: #2594 ($1,449,000) and #2597 ($6,250,380). Ordinance #2597’s items include $2,825,000 for roadway, sidewalk, drainage and pedestrian projects; $635,000 for Public Works road and drainage repairs; $440,000 for building repairs; $455,000 for vehicles; $254,000 for parks; $600,000 for fire, EMS and emergency management radio upgrades; $252,000 for the Basking Ridge Fire Company; $299,000 for the Liberty Corner Fire Company; $71,950 for the Basking Ridge First Aid Squad; and $158,430 for police equipment.

Debt. The 2025 Annual Debt Statement, sworn by the CFO, shows gross debt of $28,690,000, all of it local school district bonds, which are fully deducted: municipal net debt is $0, and the remaining statutory borrowing power is $313,477,333.34. The 2025 audit notes: “As of 12/31/2017, the Township was completely debt free.” The User Friendly Budget lists bond ratings of Aa1 (Moody’s) and AAA (Standard & Poor’s).

Surplus, the 2025 audit and collections

Surplus (fund balance). The 2025 audit shows the Current Fund balance at $24,178,670.60 on December 31, 2025 (December 31, 2024: $24,319,290.44). Of it, $16,000,000 is used as revenue in the 2026 budget (audit Note 3). The CFO’s deck describes the $16,000,000 as a $12,000,000 “draft use of surplus” plus the $4,000,000 cap provision, and shows $12,201,117.82 of fund balance reserved.
The 2025 audit. Nisivoccia LLP’s report is dated May 18, 2026. Its summary of recommendations reads “None,” and on prior-year recommendations, “There were none.” A management suggestion asks the township to keep reviewing older grant balances. On June 23 the Committee certified that its members had reviewed the audit (Res. #2026-0312, 4-0, McNally absent). On July 14 the auditor’s 2025 contract was raised by $6,350 to $42,165 (Res. #2026-0326).
Collections. The audit records 99.50% of the 2025 levy collected in the year ($156,613,158.14 of $157,398,799.69), against 99.64% in 2024. The last tax sale before 2026 was on October 2, 2025; seven tax title liens were outstanding at the end of 2025.

Tax bills, appeals and the tax sale

Estimated bills. On April 28 the Committee authorized estimated third-quarter bills because “the State of New Jersey has not yet certified the State budget for the year 2026,” setting the estimated 2026 levy for all entities at $160,724,615.48 (Res. #2026-0257).
Grace period. On July 14 it extended the third-quarter grace period to the 25th day after the bills are mailed, because “the State of New Jersey has not released all information needed for striking a rate timely” and “the County of Somerset could not release the tax rate” (Res. #2026-0339, consent agenda, 5-0).
Interest. Late payments after the 10-day grace period are charged 8% a year on the first $1,500 and 18% above (Res. #2026-0017; Mayor’s Newsletter, October 2026). Fourth-quarter taxes were due November 1, 2026, with grace through November 10.
Appeals. The User Friendly Budget reports 31 appeals filed at the County Tax Board and 13 at the State Tax Court in 2025, five pending at the Tax Court, and $15,700.09 paid out for appeals in 2025.
The 2026 tax sale. On July 14 the Committee authorized the Tax Collector to hold an electronic sale, which the resolution says gives “a greater pool of potential lien buyers” (Res. #2026-0337). The Tax Collector’s notices, posted September 8, 15, 22 and 29, announced an online sale of 2025 and prior-year delinquent taxes and charges concluding October 6, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.
“Understanding Your Taxes.” On July 29, 2026, the township held a public session at Town Hall with the Mayor, CFO, Tax Collector Kevin Sant’Angelo and Tax Assessor Dave Centrelli on how taxes are calculated, assessment and billing, and where tax dollars go. It was not a Committee meeting; the recording is linked from the township’s Understanding Bernards page. LocalWhy has not reviewed the recording.

Construction fees. Ordinance #2598 (introduced June 9, adopted 4-0 on June 23 with no public speakers) raised a range of construction permit fees; for example, a certificate of continued occupancy rises from $350 to $500 and an in-ground pool permit from $175 to $300.

Where the records describe the numbers differently

The budget change. The March 24 minutes say the proposed budget “is an increase of 2.46% over the 2025 budget” and that the municipal rate “is down 4.33% from 2025’s rate of .253.” The CFO’s deck from the same night shows:
- total appropriations up 0.48% ($49,773,968 against $49,537,906);
- operations, excluding capital, grants and the reserve for uncollected taxes, up 4.33%;
- the amount raised by taxation up 3.44%;
- the municipal tax rate down 2.52% in its tax-rate calculation.
The state User Friendly Budget form gives the rate change as −2.77% (0.253 to 0.246) and the levy change as +3.44%.
Average-home municipal tax. The CFO’s deck gives $2,293.44 (up $87.86); the User Friendly Budget form gives $2,291.83 (up $86.25, +3.91%).
Within-CAPS appropriations. The budget resolutions print $32,908,035.20 within “CAPS”; the deck’s appropriations summary gives $28,908,035.20 within CAP and lists the $4,000,000 cap adjustment provision separately.
Fund balance at December 31, 2025. Before the audit, the Annual Financial Statement (dated March 5, 2026) showed $24,164,739.23 and the CFO’s deck projected $24,201,117.82. The audit, dated May 18, 2026, gives $24,178,670.60.
The 2025 levy. The audit gives $157,398,799.69; the User Friendly Budget’s “Total Tax Levy, CY 2025” is $157,370,368.32; the county abstract’s 2025 levies by entity total $157,042,790.05.

What LocalWhy has not reviewed

The July 29 “Understanding Your Taxes” recording, the golf utility’s operating results in the audit, and the full line-item detail of the Annual Financial Statement. The date the county released the 2026 rate sheet is not printed on it.

What residents can do

Speak at the budget hearing (April 28 in 2026) or in public comment at any Township Committee meeting. Meetings are at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 1 Collyer Lane, and are recorded on the township’s YouTube channel. The next meeting is November 10, 2026.
Read the budget, User Friendly Budget, audit and debt statement on the township’s budgets pages.
Ask the Tax Assessor about an assessment, or the Tax Collector about a bill.
School taxes are set by the Bernards Township Board of Education, which holds its own budget hearing.
Corrections to this page can be emailed to info@localwhy.org.