Residents of Carlstadt will pay a smaller portion of the Becton Regional High School budget next year, according to preliminary budget numbers obtained from the Carlstadt-East Rutherford Board of Education.

Though Carlstadt accounts for about one-third of all Becton students, it paid 57.15 percent of the school tax levy in 2007-2008, a total of approximately $5.9 million. Preliminary projections for the 2008-2009 budget have Carlstadt’s share down to 53.39 percent, or $5.7 million.

A Carlstadt resident living in a borough-average $200,000 home will pay $1,100 in regional school taxes next year, about 8.5 percent less than the $1,200 they paid this year.

The tax bill of the average East Rutherford resident will remain fairly stable. A house assessed at the borough-average of $150,000 paid $810 last year. Next year they will pay about $803.

For more on this story, see the March 12 edition of the South Bergenite.