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Districts across Bergen and neighboring counties are running into deficits well beyond anything Tenafly currently faces. In nearly every case, the driver is the same: staffing costs growing faster than revenue, often obscured by weak budget tracking. Tenafly has avoided a public crisis so far, but it is not immune to the underlying trend.
Regional Deficit Comparison
| District | County | Deficit | Primary Driver | Outcome / Status |
|---|
| Hackensack | Bergen | $17M (25-26); $24M proj. 26-27 | Unbudgeted hires, 20% staffing increase despite falling enrollment, missing Position Control Roster, 30%+ benefit cost spike | Up to 90 staff cuts; $6.5M emergency transfer; BOE suing former superintendent & BA |
| Montclair | Essex | $19.6M accumulated | Personnel costs largest share; special-ed hiring; rising benefits; county transportation contracts | 100+ layoff notices; special tax referendum; forensic audit ordered |
| Toms River | Ocean | $22.3M (25-26) | District attributes to ~60% state aid cut over 7 years | 12.9% tax increase; blocked Chapter 9 filing |
| West Milford | Passaic | Not disclosed; enrollment/aid-driven | State aid cut ~half, shifting ~80% of tax burden to property owners | Closing 2nd elementary school in 3 years |
| Westwood Regional | Bergen | Not disclosed; benefit-cost driven | 30% spike in health-insurance costs | Staff reductions under consideration, 26-27 |
| Ridgewood | Bergen | ~4% tax levy increase to close gap | Rising health-insurance & maintenance costs | Teacher layoffs; 1,100+ signature petition |
What Actually Drove the Staffing-Related Deficits
Hackensack (Bergen County): Auditor Steven Wielkotz found staffing grew from 751 to 903 employees (20%) even as enrollment and sending-district tuition fell. More than 40 positions were hired and paid without ever being entered into the budget — roughly $3.6M in salary and $985,650 in health benefits no one accounted for. The district is now suing its former superintendent and business administrator.
Montclair (Essex County): Personnel costs are the single largest share of the deficit, compounded by special-education-driven hiring. Health insurance costs climbed sharply alongside staffing growth. A prior business administrator had received a performance bonus tied to fiscal-health metrics during the same period the deficit was accumulating.
Where Tenafly Stands — and Why That's Not a Reason to Relax
What's different: Tenafly has not had a Hackensack- or Montclair-style crisis — no forensic audit, no lawsuit, no forced mid-year reduction in force, no special referendum. Enrollment has been rising, not falling.
What's not different: Tenafly carries the same underlying cost pressures, and its own budget filings show it:
- The district's unrestricted general fund balance — its cushion against exactly this kind of shock — fell from $6.23M (6/30/23) to $6.01M (6/30/24) to an estimated $1.69M (6/30/25) to a projected $767,010 (6/30/26). Roughly an 88% decline in three years.
- Employee benefits as a share of salary climbed from 25.24% (2022-23 actual) to a proposed 33.62% (2025-26) — the same health-insurance cost curve driving deficits elsewhere in this comparison. In dollar terms, the benefits line grew from $13.4M to a proposed $17.2M in two budget cycles.
Tenafly isn't in crisis, but it is drawing down its reserve at a pace that would leave little room to absorb a surprise — the kind that blindsided Hackensack's board. Getting ahead of that now, while there's still a cushion, is the difference between managing the trend and reacting to it.
A Neighbor to Watch: Northern Valley Regional
NVRHS (serving Closter, Demarest, Harrington Park, Haworth, Northvale, Norwood, and Old Tappan) shows a similar reserve trend: unrestricted fund balance fell from $2.92M (6/30/23) to a projected $1.48M (6/30/25-26), while its Capital Reserve was drawn down from $8.86M to a projected $2.39M over the same window. No deficit has been publicly reported there yet — this is a leading indicator, not a current crisis.
Sources: Wielkotz & Company audit presentations (Jan 2026); Hackensack BOE/City corrective action materials; Montclair Local & Montclair Pod reporting (2025-26); NJ Dept. of Education User-Friendly Budget summaries (nj.gov/education/budget/ufb, 2025-26 filing); Ridgewood-Glen Rock Patch (Apr. 2026); New Jersey Monitor; PIX11.
