Toms River homeowners are about to get hit with another property tax increase, TLS finds, as the Toms River Regional Board of Education has approved its 2026–27 school year budget, adopting a spending plan that raises property taxes for residents yet again.

The roughly $306 million budget includes a tax levy increase of about 4.9% overall, with Toms River homeowners expected to see a 4.6% rise in school taxes, according to budget documents. For a home assessed at the township median, the increase amounts to about an additional $17.76 per month.

The vote marks the first time in three years the board has approved a budget after previously rejecting spending plans that included double-digit tax hikes, prompting intervention by the state Department of Education.

District leaders said the latest increase, while smaller than in prior years, comes amid mounting cost pressures and continued concerns over state funding. Health insurance expenses alone are rising by more than $6.5 million, or about 13.3%, accounting for a significant portion of the budget growth.

Superintendent Michael Citta also noted that limits on state aid increases, which are capped at 6 percent annually, have prevented the district from fully recovering under New Jersey’s school funding formula, leaving local taxpayers to make up the difference.

The district is slated to receive about $31.7 million in state aid for the upcoming school year, an increase from the prior year but still below what officials say is needed under the formula.

The new tax increase follows steep hikes in recent years. In 2025, the state imposed a budget with a nearly 13 percent tax increase after the board declined to approve it, on top of an earlier roughly 9 percent increase — raising taxes by more than 20 percent over a two-year span.

Officials have tied those increases to long-term reductions in state aid, which they say have totaled more than $100 million over time, forcing layoffs, asset sales and program cuts to balance budgets.

While the newly adopted budget avoids another double-digit increase, it continues a pattern of rising local taxes as the district works to stabilize its finances.

Toms River Regional, which serves students from Toms River, South Toms River, Beachwood and Pine Beach, is one of the largest school districts in New Jersey, with about 14,500 students enrolled in 18 facilities.