In a rare unanimous vote, the City Council approved a $111.8 million budget with a 2.8 percent tax rate increase for the 2016 calendar year at a public meeting on Wednesday, May 4. The total budget is up 3 percent from last year’s $108.4 million.
Other media outlets reported that Hoboken adopted a $107 million budget. To be clear, that excludes the public library amount, an appropriation of approximately $4 million.
Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, who chairs the Finance Committee, was lauded by council members for handling the budget well despite being new to the role.
Fisher, a former financial officer for one of the nation’s largest shopping center conglomerates, said that this year there are more taxpaying properties (ratable base) to share the burden of the increase.
Hoboken property owners pay an overall tax levy made up of city taxes, school taxes, and county taxes, with small portion for the public library and an open space trust fund. The municipal portion of Hoboken’s property tax rate – the only part affected by the city budget – will increase from $4.69 to roughly $4.80 per $1,000 of assessed value, rising slightly to $2,491 per year for the average Hoboken residential property of $519,000. Residents will pay an approximate additional $67 in municipal taxes.
At Wednesday’s meeting, councilmember’s unanimously introduced a bond ordinance to mill, repave and rehabilitate Washington Street.
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Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo commended Fisher for a productive budget process, saying he seldom votes “yes” to a budget with a tax increase.
Some council members voiced how they’d like to tackle the budget allocations going forward. Fourth Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos said he’d like to see money go toward maintaining the city’s parks, not simply opening them up, and Council-at-large Dave Mello has been vocal about allocations to fund water main repairs as the city looks at the full scope of that issue.
The fine print
City spokesperson Juan Melli later confirmed that the surplus balance remaining is $12.47 million. In defense of keeping a healthy surplus, Mayor Dawn Zimmer said in a statement the day following the hearing, “Building up and maintaining a responsible surplus is important to the financial strength of our city and is how we improved our bond rating from near junk status to AA+. I thank the City Council for working closely with my administration to finalize this budget.”
Another $4.1 million in surplus produced by the Hoboken Parking Utility (HPU) was also channeled into the general city budget. The HPU maintains a separate annual budget funded entirely by the proceeds from Hoboken’s parking meters, parking permits, parking tickets, parking lot fees, parking boot releases, and taxi licenses.
Residents may see their taxes increase by as much as 3 percent on average overall, as the school board also approved a near 4 percent increase in their budget this past week (see separate story) and the county is expected to as well.
Among of the highest cost drivers in the budget, Fisher echoed from the recent budget hearings and workshops, is the $2.7 million in health benefits for city employees, even after the city saved $2.5 million by switching to a self-insured system.
Plans are also in the works to make down payments on the Washington Street redesign project, the 9/11 memorial, a Snow Dragon snow melter, two sidewalk sweepers, two new pumpers for the Fire Department, renovations to police and fire headquarters, renovations to Church Square Park, and repairs to the walkway at Stevens Park.
At Wednesday’s meeting, councilmember’s unanimously introduced a $12 million bond ordinance to mill, repave and rehabilitate Washington Street. That will likely be voted in at the next council meeting on May 18.
All Saints students: Why Hoboken should compost
Over 20 fourth grade students from All Saint Episcopal Day School took turns at the microphone at the start of the meeting to discuss why Hoboken should provide a curbside composting service for residents.
Compost, an ingredient in organic farming, simply requires you to make a mound of wetted green waste (such as leaves and food waste) in a designated area like a bin and wait until it breaks down in a matter of weeks or months.
“Right now it costs the city $2.5 million dollars each year to have garbage sent to a landfill in West Virginia,” said one student at the mic. “If everyone in Hoboken composted it could cost 75 percent less. That is a $1.8 million reduction.”
While interviewing 195 people on the street, the students said, 187 pedestrians or 96 percent welcome a composting service in Hoboken.
Council members applauded the students’ efforts and 5th Ward Councilman Chris Cunningham said it is a pertinent topic – especially at budget season.
The adopted budget increases allocations to the city’s sanitation services from $4.3 million to $4.5 million.
Whether Hoboken will add curbside compost service will have to be seen.
Steven Rodas can be reached at srodas@hudsonreporter.com.