The Hoboken City Council’s rejection of Mayor Ravi Bhalla’s proposed $144.3 million municipal budget Wednesday night was as much a message about how the spending plan was released earlier in the day as it was about its content.
“Before we even had a chance to read the complete proposal, the mayor had already put out a press release with the administration’s spin,” Councilman Michael Russo said in statement, one of three gripes he has with the spending plan. “This is a non-starter.”
The proposed 2024-2025 introductory budget is 6.1% more than last year’s budget and would’ve come with a 5.9% increase in municipal taxes, one of three components that make up land owners’ property tax. The other two are school and county taxes.
Bhalla and his administration cited rising fixed costs in pensions, health care, trash collection and tax abatement payments as reasons for the increased budget, which would amount to a $168 annual increase for the owner of an average assessed home in the city.
In a 5-4 vote, Council President Jen Giattino, Councilmembers Paul Presinzano, Tiffanie Fisher, Russo and Ruben Ramos, the mayor’s critics, voted against the budget. Council Vice President Jim Doyle, councilmembers Emily Jabbour, Joe Quintero and Phil Cohen, all allies of Bhalla, voted in favor.
“I’ve glanced at it just because I didn’t have time, and the public didn’t even get a chance really to see it,” Fisher said at Wednesday’s council meeting.
Others also took a swipe at the tax increase. Russo said that like last year’s 6.18% increase, it “is just not feasible.”
“Our neighbors didn’t tighten their belts for the last five years just to see their government let them down like this,” Russo said in a statement Thursday. “When a normal Hoboken family anticipates high fixed costs, they adjust variable costs accordingly — and we expect similar action from the administration.”
The municipal tax hike would be added to a potential average $632 increase in the Hoboken school tax under its proposed budget, a 24.3% increase from the previous school budget.
Business Administrator Jason Freeman explained during the meeting that the city is due for a $2.9 million increase in pensions, $1.8 million more in debt service, $1.4 million more in healthcare costs, and $848,000 more in garbage collection. The city is also facing a decrease in pandemic relief funding.
The budget allocates funding for ongoing city projects, including a redesign of Sinatra Drive, water infrastructure projects, new electric vehicle charging stations and an expansion of Southwest Park.
Salaries in City Hall are down 1% after the city moved the Division of Health into the public safety department and made further organizational changes to create the city’s Department of Climate Action and Innovation, according to the city. Also, the city anticipates generating $1.7 million more in interest income, Freeman said during the budget presentation Wednesday night.
“I would like to see something done where there is no tax increase,” said Presinzano. “Because at the end of the day, we should have learned our lesson during COVID, (but) it seems we haven’t. Yes, costs have gone up, but as (they have), we’ve got to find ways to make sure that that’s not passed on to the taxpayer.”
In a joint statement, Doyle, Jabbour, Quintero and Cohen defended the Bhalla administration, saying that “in recent years, our collaborative approach to establishing a city budget has resulted in a municipal tax rate that is the lowest in Hudson County, with increases well below the level of inflation.”
“The administration, with support and feedback from the City Council, has delivered responsible budgets that have resulted in continued progress for our community — investing in our public parks, infrastructure, and expanded programming,” they said.
Hoboken spokeswoman Marilyn Baer said the administration “looks forward to collaborating with the City Council on a budget that remains responsible to taxpayers, invests in critical infrastructure and open space projects, and prioritizes the quality of life for Hoboken residents.”
In other business, the council carried an appeal hearing on a city zoning board decision to build 22 new residential units over three adjoined four-story buildings containing 16 rent-controlled apartments to April 17.
It also unanimously introduced an ordinance that would extend a moratorium on new outdoor dining “parklets” through July 17.
