The Kearny Town Council voted down a roughly $99 million budget with a four-and-a-half percent tax hike at last night’s meeting as elections for four ward seats loom on Tuesday.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“The Town has been working closely with our CFO to put together a budget that is fair for Kearny: one that best minimizes the financial burden on taxpayers while still fully funding essential operations,” Mayor Carol Jean Doyle told HCV today.
“During the introduction of the budget, our CFO acknowledged rising healthcare premiums, an increase to Passaic Valley [Water Sewerage Commission] rates, and pension payments have contributed to a higher budget. These are issues government at all levels are facing, including many municipalities in Hudson County.”
After a lively discussion, 1st Ward Councilman George Zapata, 2nd Ward Councilman Dennis Solano, 3rd Ward Councilwoman Eileen Eckel, and 4th Ward Councilman Stathis Theodoropoulos voted not on the budget resolution, citing a $14 million budget deficit.
“The fact that there’s no long-term plan to address the budget deficit is unacceptable. We can’t simply raise our hands and say, ‘It is what it is’ — I don’t think that’s responsible governance,” Zapata said at the meeting.
“We’ve made numerous suggestions and asked for ways to go outside the box to find savings, just like we did last year. This budget doesn’t do anything like that.”
While the final vote was 5-4, a super majority was needed to pass the municipal spending plan, so it still failed. Further, by the end of the meeting, 3rd Ward Councilman Fred Esteves, who votes yes, joined Team Kearny’s call for a long-term plan.
“This is the second year that we’ve been bringing up the budget deficit, and nothing has been done to address it. When we blow through our reserves, this budget deficit looks like it’s going to be hitting $20 million,” declared Theodoropoulos.
“Is the plan to hose our residents with a huge tax increase? It looks like we have to go off a cliff in order to do anything.”
Kearny CFO Shuaib Firozvi said during the meeting that if the proposed budget had been approved last night, the town’s surplus would be expected to run out by the end of next year, according to the council members who voted against the spending plan.
“There’s no plan here. It’s just kicking the can down the road and then we’ll have to figure out what we’re going to do later,” noted Solano.
“I vote no on the introduction of the budget, because I vote yes for the taxpayers of Kearny. We have to come up with something better for Kearny families.”
Pointing to a resolution they sponsored and the full the governing body approved in June 2025, Zapata and Theodoropoulos noted they called for a three-year budget plan back when the deficit was around $10 million.
They also pointed out that the tax increase would have been over five percent when factoring in the library tax levy.
Doyle attributed election politics for the reason the budget was voted down.
“Unfortunately, some members of the Town Council chose to use last night’s meeting as their own political stage ahead of the Primary Election. The CFO shared budget plans with the Town Council two weeks ago. None of the council members who voted no reached out to him with any questions or concerns prior to the meeting, which is telling of their intentions,” she said.
“Instead, the CFO was chastised, with some dissenting members even suggesting we consider cuts to town services. The facts are we continue to maintain a surplus in our budget. We have already begun a financial planning process that replenishes funds into surplus for the next fiscal year, which was discussed at length during the introduction. The divisiveness in our government is only hurting our residents. I am confident that by working together, not against each other, we will adopt a budget that works for everyone.”
Back in January, Zapata and Theodoropoulos were removed from the budget committee in January as their tensions with Doyle began to boil over, as HCV first reported.
Now, Zapata, Solano, and are Theodoropoulos running alongside Sarah Bonilla, who is running for the 3rd Ward seat with Eckel’s support since she is retiring, under the “Team Kearny” banner.
Doyle, with the backing of both the local and county Democrats, is running her own slate: Zayda Balcazar in the 1st Ward, Julio Huancaya in the 2nd Ward, Edmund Shea in the 3rd Ward, and Orlando Miranda in the 4th Ward.
The latest fracas over finances comes just eight days after Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) Chair Craig Guy, also the county executive, and Team Kearny slugged it out over the introduced county budget, where Kearny faces the largest potential tax hike.
