The Jersey City Council unanimously approved (9-0) a non-binding resolution urging the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller to conduct an audit of fiscal operations in the city for several years during Mayor Steven Fulop’s tenure.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
At the of yesterday’s seven-and-a-half meeting, the council voted unanimously (9-0) to approve a resolution calling on the comptroller “to conduct an audit, performance review, contract review” of Fulop’s administration between 2020 and 2025.
The resolution was co-sponsored by Ward C Councilman Tom Zuppa and Councilman at-Large Rolando Lavarro, who ran with Fulop in 2013 and 2017 before losing in 2021 when he ran independently. He won last year as part of now-Mayor James Solomon’s slate.
“The public is understandably skeptical of government, but this was a conversation he and I had with some others months ago about co-governance committees, looking both back and forward, and that’s where this came about,” Zuppa said of collaborating with Lavarro.
“And serving on the rent control committee, with the limitations that there are in asking city employees questions, and questioning them as to who represents them – which the answer is corporation counsel – and something of the magnitude of the budget deficit we have, I think the council and I both felt that an independent investigation would be appropriate for the financial situation that we’re in. And that’s just the background and my perspective.”
Lavarro stated his gratitude to Zuppa likewise for co-sponsoring the measure, also noting that it was supported by Solomon, which he made clear to reporters during a media scrum in the early going of the council meeting, as HCV first reported.
“What we’ve seen here with this budget deficit and this budget crisis of a $255 million dollar deficit for fiscal year 26, it borders on criminality, frankly. And so it needs to be investigated and people need to be held accountable,” Lavarro asserted.
“And so I hope the comptroller will take this resolution seriously and look into what occurred here with our financial operations here in Jersey City during the last administration … And if anything nefarious or any criminal wrongdoing is discovered, I hope they refer those individuals to the State Attorney General’s Office, and that the people of Jersey City will get justice for what happened here.”
Their comments largely echoed what they said during Monday’s caucus, where shortly thereafter the comptroller’s office declined to comment.
Several other council members vocalized their support for the measure, with Ward B Councilman Joel Brooks, Councilwoman at-Large Mamta Singh, and Council President Denise Ridley opting to simply vote in its favor.
“Thank you to Councilman Zuppa and Councilman Lavarro for putting this resolution forward. I think this is part of how we never have this terrible financial situation ever again. So I appreciate that,” expressed Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros.
“I’d like to echo the sentiments and thank Councilman Zuppa and Councilman Lavarro for their leadership in advancing this,” said Ward E Councilwoman Eleana Little.
Ward F Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore also thanked the resolution sponsors, noting that the first question that came to mind when he hard of the deficit was “how isn’t this criminal?” adding that he is hopeful an investigation is conducted.
Councilman at-Large Michael Griffin added that while he also supports this effort, this wasn’t meant to take attention away from the now-delayed introduction of the proposed 20 percent increase on third quarter tax bills, as HCV first reported.
“I want to thank Councilman Zuppa, Councilman Lavarro for 10.9. For the public, this is not a resolution that was put on the agenda to distract you from the proposed tax increase. This was something that they started working on months ago and I really appreciate it,” Griffin explained.
While Lavarro contemplated amending the resolution to include the year 2019 as well in light of Solomon’s finance presentation explaining his tax bill proposal at the June 22 caucus meeting, he ultimately opted not to do so.
Fulop has previously called the $255 million deficit figure “fugazi,” but has otherwise largely not responded to Solomon’s repeated criticisms of his 12-year tenure as mayor, outside of when they slugged it out over alleged improper crime reporting between 2021 and 2024.
While Fulop didn’t explicitly respond to the comptroller resolution, Fulop asserted that if he won a fourth term last year, this year’s budget would not have a tax increase.
“We obviously disagree. Had I chosen to run for re-election, we would have introduced another budget with no tax increase for Jersey City residents as we did nearly every year. It’s also worth noting that James served on the City Council for eight years with full budget responsibilities,” Fulop told HCV Thursday.
“During that time, he never raised these concerns and voted for virtually every contract and resolution that came before the council with regards to what he references here. This is James playing politics.”
According to the resolution, the move comes in the wake of the nearly $255 million budget deficit for 2026, which equates to about 28 percent of Jersey City’s annual operating budget.
In a 24-page “financial emergency” report released back in February, the Solomon administration highlighted that $667 in nonrecurring revenues utilized from 2019 through the end of the Fulop administration, and the city’s “rainy-day fund” was reduced from $100 million to “essentially nothing.”
