Op-Ed: Hoboken budget crisis has been a long time coming & some tried to stop it

In an editorial, Hoboken 3rd Ward Councilman Dr. Mike Russo, a mayoral candidate, says that the city’s budget crisis has been a long time coming and some officials worked to stop it over the years.

I first started serving on the Hoboken City Council in 2003. Times were different back then. In many ways, Hoboken was still growing.

The waterfront had been developed into a public park, attracting thousands in and out of town. Many public servants were hard at work making dreams come true for the people.

Somewhere along the way, the dreams kept being built—but our Mayors forgot to pick up the tab. Our current Mayor in particular has bonded for so many things that it’s hard to keep up.

The Northwest Resiliency Park could have had revenue sources help pay for it but didn’t. Then there was the executive order requiring a percentage of all bond revenue used to be spent on public art.

We are no strangers to our own municipal version of the “burrito loans” that are the subject of jokes all over social media. “Get it now, pay it later” always sounds convenient until you remember not only the interest, but the cost to maintain what you’ve created.

A first-time reader deserves to know how the budget process works in the City of Hoboken. Because of the way our government was chartered, the Mayor and their Administration are responsible for proposing the budget.

Then the City Council has hearings, which result in amendments, and then we finally vote on some altered version of what has been presented to us.

In recent years, budgets have been thrown our way at the last second (in some cases, literally hours before we’re required to discuss them), and fiscal transparency has virtually never been a priority.

I’ve been speaking out about Hoboken’s bad finance habits for years, and years, and years. My record is clear.

As a working class father of four, I have felt compelled to act against any exorbitant tax increases that go beyond what I would feel comfortable paying myself. Unfortunately, regardless of how many times I vote no, my vote is just one of many.

A few weeks ago, when introducing this year’s budget, our outgoing business administrator dropped a bombshell that I’ve been anticipating for quite some time: we are in a fiscal pit of debt.

Some will try to blame this on the entire City Council, but they’re free to go back and check the record. I’ve voted against most tax increases in my 20+ years on the Council. It’s not stubborn and it’s not political; it’s principled.

I want to be clear: there is no more time left to delay. We have to begin to pay our bills.

When the next Mayor of Hoboken assumes office next January, they will be responsible for digging us out of this hole.

When I’m Mayor, here’s what I will do:

1. You can’t have expenses without revenues, and the City of Hoboken has not had any new major ratables come online in more than 15 years. I will work tirelessly to attract new housing development in a way that is strategic, holistic, and helps our bottom line. In my Housing Policy proposal released last year, I outlined multiple areas of priority that will help build Hoboken’s middle class back, stabilize rent prices, keep the City’s character, and build community. There’s no more time for NIMBYism and we have to act now.

2. I will push for any new amenities to have revenue-generating components, and explore public-private partnerships and corporate sponsorships for amenity services to cover any debt service. For example, if we proceed with my plan to build a new Pier B aquatic complex as I recently laid out in my Recreation proposal, an adjacent event space and pool membership system will be needed in order to make the dream a reality.

3. I will implement the closest thing to a zero-based budget possible in City Hall: analyzing the money that’s already spoken for, and building everything else back up from scratch.

4. I will reduce administrative salaries and wages (typically noted in budget top-lines as “S&W”)—period. When I first started on the City Council, the Administration was far less top-heavy. It can be done.

5. I will make paying down our city’s debts a top priority.

6. I will increase the length of time that the City Council is given to review a budget before its initial introduction.

Whether you just started coming to City Council meetings, have never been, or have been coming for years, I have never stopped being a fiscal warrior. When I’m Mayor, that policy gets implemented citywide.

The residents know what it’s like to think in dollars and cents, and they deserve nothing less than a government which acts accordingly.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Michael Russo
3rd Ward Councilman
Candidate for Hoboken Mayor