Red Bank outlines 2026 budget; levy held flat while assessments and insurance push average homeowner bill up $231

Tom Seaman, Red Bank's chief financial officer, presented highlights of the proposed 2026 municipal budget and told attendees the town kept its municipal tax rate the same as last year but that higher property assessments and rising benefit and contract costs will raise many homeowners' bills.

"We're going to be raising about the levy is going to be about over $64 million," Seaman said, then clarified that the municipality controls about 25% of the tax bill while schools and the county comprise the larger shares. He said the town's total assessed valuation is roughly $3.59 billion, up about 7.74% year over year, which alters how assessment increases translate into individual tax bills.

Seaman walked through mechanics the state requires for municipal budgets, noting that revenues generally must be estimated conservatively (not exceeding prior-year realizations) and that appropriations are line-itemed and may not be overexpended. He said the town met both the state levy-cap and appropriation-cap calculations and that the statutory levy-cap ceiling permitted roughly $17 million in increases while the proposed plan raises about $16 million.

Why it matters: By holding the municipal rate steady, Red Bank aims to limit sudden year-to-year rate spikes; however, rising assessed values and cost pressures mean residents can still see higher dollar bills. Seaman gave an example using an average residential assessment of about $651,000 and a municipal rate used in the presentation: the average total tax bill was presented as roughly $11,729, of which the municipal portion was about $2,989, producing an estimated municipal increase for the average homeowner of about $231.

Cost drivers and offsets: Officials emphasized two principal cost pressures: health-insurance increases and a higher solid-waste contract. Seaman said health-plan costs in the town's pool looked to rise in the mid-20-percent range and that the town's exposure contributed roughly $1 million in additional budgetary cost. Solid-waste costs were also cited as a material increase in the operating budget.

To offset some pressure, Seaman said the town would use $3.7 million in surplus in the proposed 2026 budget and had applied one-time prior-year settlement revenue (from a Riverview settlement) to prior-year capital projects rather than recurring spending. He also noted grants for pedestrian safety, drunk-driving enforcement and prospective electric-vehicle infrastructure as partial offsets to municipal costs.

Fiscal safeguards: Seaman described the town's reserve for uncollected taxes (the budget includes a conservative estimate for delinquencies) and pointed to a historically strong collection rate—approximately 98% last year—as one factor helping fiscal stability. He said debt is manageable (the transcript presentation cited total debt of about $29 million against a much higher statutory limit) and that the town is pacing capital work to avoid sudden tax-rate pressure.

Next steps: The presentation will be posted online. Officials said the budget will be formally introduced next week (no discussion at introduction) and scheduled for a public budget hearing and adoption on the date presented in the slides (May 14), at which time the public may comment and council members may debate or amend the appropriation.

Closing note: Seaman and other presenters framed the package as an attempt to preserve services while exercising fiscal discipline in the face of broad insurance and contract pressures.