Jersey City taxpayers may not have to tremble this year when they see their property taxes.
The city will present its municipal budget with a “less than 2%” increase on taxpayers at next week’s city council meeting, Mayor Steve Fulop said in a social media post.
Last year’s budget included a 2% increase in the municipal tax levy, resulting in a $70 increase for the average assessed home valued at $467,000. But that increase went unfelt due to an average decrease of $27 in the city’s portion of the Hudson County budget, and a $51 decrease per average homeowner in the city’s public school budget.
“Next week we will introduce the municipal budget. It will be a less than 2% change,” Fulop posted on social media. “Well below inflation, despite costs for the government going up significantly (labor, energy, goods).
“I’m responsible for the municipal portion of your taxes (not schools or county), but we would put our 10-year record against any municipality in New Jersey.”
The mayor, who is running for governor in 2025, did not provide any details about the budget.
The city’s finances have been a pressing issue since it accumulated $92 million in debt due to the revenue losses and expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. An audit of the years 2021 and 2022 showed overspending and unreliable reporting of finances saddled the city with more than $27 million in debt it eventually deferred to 2023′s budget.
Jersey City got a lifeline from the autonomous Municipal Utilities Authority when it signed a 40-year deal for water and sewerage services. The deal will put $50 million in the city’s pockets, $30 million this year and then $10 million each of the next two years.
Taxpayers are still reeling from the massive $1,600 increase in school taxes in 2022, which was followed by a $1,100 increase in taxes created by the city’s budget that same year.
The city budget ballooned that year by nearly $100 million climbing from $626 million to $724 million. The city budget was $701 million in 2023.
But taxpayers may be able to relax again this year without worrying about a massive increase coming their way. The Jersey City Board of Education unanimously adopted a $1 billion budget on April 25 at no additional cost to taxpayers.
It can’t be determined yet if there will be an increase in the county portion of the Jersey City property taxes since Hudson County has not yet announced its spending plan for the next year.
