The Jersey City Council passed an ordinance on second reading establishing a 3.5 percent cap bank, which comes out to $20,840,802.24 to increase allowable budget appropriations at yesterday’s seven-and-a-half hour meeting.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
Jersey City Mayor James Solomon attended the meeting after postponing the vote on a proposed 20 percent rate hike on the third quarter tax bills and personally answered questions from some residents after he held an impromptu media scrum.
“How much will we exceed the caps? What is outside the caps?” Yvonne Balcer asked the governing body.
“There is no set amount at this time,” Council President Denise Ridley said, to which Balcer replied that the public should be aware of what exactly is happening.
Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros noted that the cap bank being proposed is for 3.5 percent.
“What areas are you going to exceed outside the caps?” Balcer pressed on.
Ephros that the ordinance is for a general increase, therefore there are no specifics to share, to the chagrin of Balcer, who said specifics should be required.
“ … What about next year? … Are you going to automatically roll the number higher and higher?” Jeanne Daly questioned.
Around that time, Ward F Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore asked the administration to explain the thought process behind the cap bank.
“It’s an annual you cap you look to exceed or stay within. This is an annual thing that the council votes on. Generally, it’s capped at two percent, and you’re allowed to increase it,” explained Assistant Business Administrator Peter Horton.
“ … This allows us to go beyond the two percent. The amount of money and everything we inherited from last year, if we have to spend more, this allows us to go over that two percent.”
Daly again asked if this was automatic, to which Ridley reiterated Horton’s point that is it an annual consideration.
“There should be no need to increase the city budget! … Healthcare costs are out of control: The city does not have a budget problem. It has a spending problem,” Salvatore Pecoraro declared.
He also criticized the significant tax hikes under former Mayor Steve Fulop over the years.
“If you cannot operate the city under budget then we should go bankrupt! Go bankrupt and start from zero! … There’s no reason to increase spending,” Pecoraro added.
Christine Hoi questioned the auditing and budgeting process, which drew a response from Solomon.
“What the audit found … the previous administration … would budget for health insurance at $150 million and then at the end of the year they would spend above that number. That often happened with our Police Department as well,” Solomon stated.
He further stated that they are seeking to stop overtime spending, which has contributed to the deficit.
“I’m deeply concerned about the direction of our city’s finances and the growing burden being put on Jersey City residents, property owners, and small businesses … We don’t have the transparency of what that budget is,” expressed Sarah Bernal.
“Why did we even vote … to increase senior official’s salaries?” she asked to applause. “Residents are being asked to tighten their belts while City Hall appears willing to increase its own cost … The Administration should explain why these increases were prioritized.”
Solomon said there was no introduced budget yet because he wanted to wait to see what they get from Trenton in aid.
During the aforementioned media scrum, he also noted that the council approved increasing 21 salary ranges in April, the only employees that had seen a raise since then are the business administrator and finance director.
“We have to pay back all these bills from last year … That’s why we’re asking to increase our appropriation cap. When you take out the credit card bills … we’re introducing a budget that cuts spending,” Solomon said, referencing an interim budget report from last week that alleges $109 million in unpaid bills.
“Lift the housing fine collection cap. Collect what’s owed before you ask for more from the taxpayers,” Portside Towers Tenant Association East President Kevin Weller asserted.
Ward C Councilman Tom Zuppa assured those in attendance that the governing body is trying to be responsible and that he is fully expecting the introduced budget to have “significant spending cuts.”
Further, Ephros repeated that the bank cap was necessary for the city to pay their bills.
Ward E Councilwoman Eleana Little then contended this year’s budget is smaller than last year’s.
“Through the budget process in July, I am committed to working with my council colleagues to identify future areas for cost savings and increase revenue. I hear your concerns,. However … we do have bills now we do have to pay,” she said, echoing Ephros.
Gilmore noted the nuances of which administration made the problem is likely irrelevant to many who have to pay more taxes.
“We were left with something that we’re trying to fix … We don’t want to see our communities taxed out,” added Councilman at-Large Michael Griffin.
“I understand why the public would be disconcerted by the idea of raising a spending cap. The $109 million in unpaid bills literally cannot be paid unless we have the ability to extend the cap,” explained Councilman at-Large Rolando Lavarro.
Ultimately, the Jersey City Council passed the ordinance unanimously (9-0) to angry boos from the audience.
