In the end, it wasn’t the slam dunk residents had hoped for: the stabilization of taxes that Mayor James Davis and his council slate had campaigned on during last year’s municipal elections. But it also wasn’t the Armageddon some had predicted: a double-digit jump in taxes.
So without fanfare – and with no comment from the public – the $131 million 2015 Bayonne municipal budget was passed in a special 20-minute meeting on Tuesday, June 30.
It was approved by the five-member City Council in a unanimous vote.
Officials said the budget did not differ greatly from what was introduced at the May City Council meeting, with some minor modifications made in certain departments. But the changes made were not great enough to affect the overall tax rate, so the 2.9 percent tax hike predicted by the administration back in March was exactly right.
About $150,000 was changed in the budget, according to Business Administrator Joseph DeMarco.
“There was some tweaking here and there and there were some changes to the operating budget,” he said. “It didn’t really affect the tax rate.”
Chief Financial Officer Terrence Malloy said that though about $150,000 in cuts were made to the final version, that figure was offset by a reduction of $120,000 of aid for school debt service. The resulting $30,000 reduction in taxes was not enough to affect the tax rate.
The $131 million budget included state aid and grants, and other revenues, DeMarco said. It also factored in a shortfall in money from the state.
“Anticipated revenues from the state had to be adjusted,” he said.
The city budget received its necessary approval from Trenton.
Structural deficit
“The Department of Community Affairs signed off and said the budget was fine, that it was good,” DeMarco said. “Their comment was that they were happy with the direction the budget is now headed.”
The city is faced with an annual structural deficit due to previous bonding and spending. Last year’s $24 million structural deficit has been reduced to $20 million for this budget, both Malloy and DeMarco said.
Since the average Bayonne home is assessed at $125,170, the municipal budget as passed will raise property taxes on the average Bayonne home by just under $130 on an annual basis, according to Malloy.
Three-percent rise
Malloy said the overall property tax increase for residents is affected by the Bayonne Board of Education increase of a little more than 3 percent, the Hudson County hike of more than 3 percent, and the city increase of a bit under 3 percent.
“Overall, they’ll be a 3-percent increase for Bayonne residents,” he said.
DeMarco said the administration has already begun work on the city’s 2016 budget.
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.To comment on this story online visit www.hudsonreporter.com.