Jersey City Mayor James Solomon is proposing a 20 percent tax increase in the third quarter of the year as part of ongoing efforts to address the city’s quarter billion dollar budget deficit.
Instagram photo.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I know this tax increase is painful, especially for people on fixed-incomes and the working families of Jersey City. The city’s deficit is without recent precedent in New Jersey. We did not create this hole, it was created during good economic times through years of one-time gimmicks, hidden bills, and deferred costs, but it is our job to climb out of it responsibly,” Solomon said in a statement.
“Alongside reductions in government spending and pursuit of non-tax revenue, a tax increase is part of that solution. What I can promise is that we have fought to make it as small as it can responsibly be, and that we will keep fighting to stabilize our budget next year and the years after.”
The estimated tax increase is being submitted to the City Council for approval at their June 24th meeting. If approved, the increase will be reflected in residents’ Q3 tax bill.
Yesterday, Solomon released an interim budget report that estimated the municipal budget to be approximately $874 million, with $109 million coming from unpaid bills from the prior administration, as HCV first reported.
In February, Solomon now infamously blamed his predecessor, Mayor Steven Fulop, for what he has deemed a catastrophic deficit of approximately $255 million.
The interim budget report also says that City Hall has gotten the deficit down to $199.6 million, which is attributed to canceling the the Centre Pompidou x Jersey City, Liberty Science Center High School, both as HCV first reported, as well as Via.
Fulop has called that figure “fugazi,” but has otherwise largely not responded to Solomon’s repeated criticisms of his 12-year tenure as mayor, outside of when they decided to slug it out over alleged improper crime reporting between 2021 and 2024.
As far as the current Jersey City budget timeline is concerned, the Solomon administration plans to submit an estimated tax increase submitted to the City Council by June 18h, with a full budget presented to the governing body at the July 13th caucus.
The budget would then be presented at the July 15th council meeting, with budget hearings taking place between July 13th and July 24th. In that planned scenario, the municipal spending plan would be approved by mid- to late August.
The late introduction is because the budget can potentially be bolstered by the state, as Jersey City has filed a $120 million dollar transitional aid application with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
The State of New Jersey has to approve their annual budget by June 30th to avoid any sort of government shutdowns.
Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, state Senator Angela McKnight (D-31), Assembly members (D-32) Ravi Bhalla and Katie Brennan, along with several labor leaders, spoke in favor of this effort, calling on the state to give significant support.
“We can’t let this budget deficit fall on Jersey City families alone. We need the state to step in. Helping close this budget gap would be one of the smartest investments New Jersey could make,” declared Brennan.
“The city must confront its endemic fiscal problems head on, and Mayor Solomon is doing just that. That kind of disciplined, transparent approach is exactly what gives the private sector the confidence to keep building here,” added Lefrak Vice Chairman James LeFrak.
Residents who wish to calculate their estimated tax increase can click here.