Our school taxes went up 2% this year. They went up the maximum 2% in 8 of the last 9 years.
Here’s what the district has been doing with the money.
Wharton’s school district is sitting on $12.6 million.
That’s more than $5,000 for every home in the borough.
It’s in a savings account for buildings, called the capital reserve fund. By law, that money cannot be spent on students, programs, or teachers. It can only be spent on building improvements.
$12.6 million for 703 students in two schools under one roof.
And if you rent, don’t stop reading. 4 in 10 households in Wharton rent. Property taxes don’t skip renters. They get passed along in the rent.
No other district in Morris County is close
Every school district in Morris County, savings measured against one year of running its schools. The county median is 10.2%. Wharton is at 72.1%.
Every dot is one of the 38 school districts in Morris County that runs its own schools and raises its own school tax. The typical district holds about 10% of a year’s spending in its building account.
Wharton holds 72%.
Wharton isn’t among the highest. It’s the highest, and it’s not even close.
29 districts spend more than we do
Every school district in Morris County ranked by what it costs to run its schools for a year. Wharton is 30th of 38 in spending and 3rd of 38 in savings.
Wharton runs the 9th smallest school budget in Morris County, out of 38 districts.
It holds the 3rd largest building savings account in the county.
The only two districts holding more are Dover and Randolph. Dover has 3,258 students in 5 schools. Randolph has 4,141 in 6 schools. Both have high schools, which are bigger and more expensive than grade schools.
Wharton has 703 students in 2 grade schools under one roof.
Here’s the comparison I didn’t believe until I’d checked it three different ways.
Parsippany-Troy Hills and Morris School District are the two largest districts in Morris County. By students, by budget, and by school taxes, they are first and second. Between them: 11,953 students, and $302 million a year to run their schools.
Their building accounts hold $12,501,454 combined.
Wharton’s holds $12,632,187.
To be fair to the board, they raised our school taxes less than any other district in the county over the last three budgets (6.1%). And the district carries no debt at all. Both are true and both count in their favor.
But careful isn’t the same as necessary.
The board didn’t need our money
The savings account balance on June 30 of each year, rising from $3.3 million in 2017 to $12.6 million in 2025.
Here’s the part that really bothers me, and I think it should bother you too.
In the last audited year (through June 30, 2025), the board raised school taxes by $201,350. The district also budgeted $4.4 million that it didn’t spend. In other words, the district certainly didn’t need our extra money, but the board raised our taxes anyway.
Unfortunately, that year isn’t the exception. It’s the same pattern every year. The district budgets more than it spends, and at the last meeting in June the board votes to move the leftover into the savings account. They have done that five Junes in a row.
Generally speaking, that’s a good thing, and it’s good practice. However, when the district knows it will have money leftover, the board shouldn’t be asking taxpayers for more money just because they can. They’re using taxpayers to grow a savings account that is excessively large.
It could have been a classroom
But look at what those votes actually do.
Before the board moves it, that leftover is general fund money. It can pay for supplies. Programs. Staff. The things a school actually runs on.
After the board moves it, it can only pay for buildings. By law. Permanently.
So every June, the board takes money that could go into a classroom and turns it into money that never can.
Ask any teacher or staff member in this district what they spent out of their own pocket setting up their room this year, or to help out their students with supplies. Ask any parent what a school supply list costs.
The money was there to address it. The board voted to put it in the walls instead.
What it’s cost us
A tax increase isn’t a one-time thing. Once the board raises the levy, we pay it again every year after that. By the year ended June 30, 2025, the board was collecting $1.3 million more every year than it collected in 2018.
Add up what we paid above that 2018 level and it totals $5 million. The savings account grew by nearly $9 million over those same years.
If the board had never raised our taxes at all since 2018, that account would still have grown by close to $4 million. And taxpayers would have $5 million more in our pockets. With the cost of living rising the way it is, that’s money we all need. But the board took it, even though they didn’t need it.
The bottom line
I think everyone agrees that we’d rather have that $5 million in our own bank accounts. And if we did, the district would still be sitting on $7.6 million.
If you argued that $7.6 million was still excessively large, you’d probably be right. Measured against what it costs to run the schools, that would still be the 3rd largest building savings account in Morris County. For the district with the 9th smallest operating budget.
Same schools. Same programs. Same staff. That $5 million should be in our pockets.
The district is sitting on $12.6 million. The board raised our taxes anyway.
Three questions for the board
I sent these questions to the board on September 2nd, along with every figure in this article and the source for each one. Read the full letter.
1. What is the $12.6 million for? Not in general terms. Name the projects, name what each one costs, and name the year each one happens.
2. Why does a district of 703 students and two schools need the largest savings account of any K-8 district in Morris County? No K-8 district in the county holds more. Only Dover and Randolph hold more, and both are K-12 districts more than four times our size with high schools to maintain.
3. Why are we still raising taxes instead of giving some of it back? State rule says money the building plan does not justify goes into next year’s budget, and that reduces what has to be raised from us. That’s not a favor to taxpayers. That’s the rule.
I asked the board to correct any number in this article before I published it. I never received a response. I asked for answers to the three questions by Wednesday, September 9th. Whatever comes back, I will publish in full and unedited.
What’s next
By September 9th, I should receive two important updates:
1. I filed a public records request on August 29th for the district’s Long Range Facilities Plan. That plan will show what the district is planning to do with the $12.6 million, and it’s the only legal limit on how large this account is allowed to be. When it arrives, I’ll publish what it says, whatever it says. Legally, they need to send me that document no later than September 2nd (which is the maximum 7 business days that the law states).
2. I also sent the board the questions about the $12.6 million capital reserve fund on September 2nd, asking for a response by September 9th. The board is not legally obligated to respond, but I think residents deserve an explanation. I’ll share whatever response I receive, in full and unedited.
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Want to look up another town? The same figures for all 38 districts in Morris County:
Thank you so much for this important information. The average resident is not aware of this and I appreciate the specific breakdown. I am a Wharton resident 18 plus years and have seen our taxes rise every year like every other town. It’s unfortunate the monies are not being used appropriately, but instead sitting in a bank account. I hope the board answers honestly and is able and willing to make necessary changes.